Shallow Hearts, Profound Souls
by OwlPenguin
Summary: At a reunion party at the academy, Shikamaru finds himself having feelings for this particular blonde ex-teammate of his. The only problem is, she now has a boyfriend; Kiba. How will the known genius tackle this problem? And what will happen when troublesome clouds darkens the peaceful horizon of Konoha? Rated M for violence and strong language. Minor pairings: NaruSaku, Kibahina.
1. A Broken Pot And A Broken Heart

Chapter 1: A broken pot and and a broken heart

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This is my first ShikaIno fic! I'll try my best to update it as much as possible, and I'd just love to hear what you think of it! Have a good read / L

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_Where does love originate from? To many people hearts symbolize love, but the human heart is really just a muscle pumping around blood in our bodies. Just doing its job. Hearts are actually a quite shallow sign of love when you think of it, souls would be more appropriate. But does souls exist really? If so, how does they look? Where does they originate? …_

Ugh, I wish I could be a cloud.

Shikamaru Nara sighed and looked out the window. It was a beautiful sunny day, and here he was at the academy writing this stupid assignment, "What love is". He'd much rather chill outside in the green grass, up on that hill he always used to lay about and watch the clouds pass during lazy days. Cloud-watching was kind of his hobby you could say, since that was what he simply loved to do. He peeped at Choji's paper, who was sitting next to him. He had simply written BBQ on it and seemed to have a hard time figuring something else out since he currently spent his time chewing on his pencil, a very bad habit of his. Shikamaru hit his arm firmly with his own to tell him to stop. Choji got the hint, but a moment later his teeth was back at the pointy end of the pen.

At the sound of the door opening, every student in the rather quiet classroom turned their heads up from their papers. Iruka sensei entered the room announcing class was dismissed and urged everyone to finish of their essays. Shikamaru simply wrote his name at the bottom of the single page he had produced in nearly an hour, stood up from his seat and dropped the paper of on the desk before finally walking out to the sun, fresh air and the clouds.

He decided to walk straight to the hill, but on his way there a group of girls passed him, chattering loud, sounding astonishingly much like apes. He recognized two of them, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno. They were all talking about Sasuke with their high-pithed voices, and from what he heard it seemed that basically all of them had spent the last hour on writing Sasuke-love letters.

Phew, Sasuke this and Sasuke that, what was so special about him anyway? Shikamaru didn't bother. When he got to the hill he simply laid down in the long green grass, put his hands under his head and closed his eyes as a cool summer breeze swept over him. This was the life, he thought. He should've written about this in the assignment...

In the meantime, in another part of the Leaf village, Ino was bragging to all the girls in her gang about how she had scored A on her last test at the Academy, the same as Sasuke. In fact they were the only two in the class with that result, which was apparently a real big deal.

"Oh, and I bet when we graduate we'll end up in the same team, I mean we're just so great together right?"

"But we haven't even graduated yet, things can change during time you know!" one girl protested. She was a year younger, which Ino used as advantage to her own argument.

"Oh, well haven't you forgotten something? _We_ graduate next week, I mean duh we're sooo gonna get in the same team."

A sudden yell from someone's mother about dinnertime interrupted the wild discussion, and the group scattered as they got reminded of the time. The only ones left was Ino and Sakura, and since their homes were in the same direction they started walking together. Sakura took in a deep breath and dared to finally ask what she'd thought about for a long time now.

"But Ino…are you certain they pair up teams like that? Like, you and Sasuke are both so good but aren't teams supposed to balance each other?"

Ino snorted. "Well, of course but that'll probably just result in them putting someone less good in our team. I mean, seriously it _has _to happen." She hoped Sakura hadn't detected her self-doubt in those words. But no fear, Sakura just shrugged her shoulders and remained silent the rest of the way until she wished Ino a good night when she reached her house.

Ino didn't pay too much attention to her, since her mind was all about Sasuke for the moment. Her greatest wish right now would definitely be to end up in the same team as Sasuke. Wouldn't that be just fantastic?

Before she went to sleep later on that evening she thought about how close the final exams really were. She felt a slight chill in her body thinking how in less than a week she'd be a ninja.

10 years later

Ino snapped when the bell at the entrance of her flower shop jingled. She was leaning on the counter, and for the past 30 minutes she had been lost in her own thoughts and memories. She looked up at the person who just entered the shop and greeted him with a smile. It was Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hello there Naruto, what brings you here?"

He looked up at her looking startled, as if he hadn't expect her to stand right there in front of him. A deep blush came onto his face as he opened his mouth do speak.

"Hey Ino, I'm just here to uhm… eh… well I… was just…"

"You were what?" Ino asked, and her smile changed into a devilish smirk as she realised his mission in her shop. "Hang on… you're here to buy flowers to some girl, aren't you? Who is is? Sakura? Hinata?"

"It's for…Hi-Hinata." He stuttered, his voice barely a whisper.

"Oh! Well in that case, I know exactly what you need." She stated as she started swirling around the shop to pick up some flowers to make a bouquet. As she finished with tying a ribbon around it she thought to herself how much _she _would appreciate receiving flowers from a man. Her boyfriend, Kiba Inuzuka, never did those things to her. On the other hand, she wasn't really sure he loved her anyway. He had never said it out loud to her. Ino often suspected that their relationship was all about status, and not really real feelings. After all, it had taken her ages to accept his proposition of the two of them being together, because she wasn't really sure she loved him either. He was full-mouthed, jeering and generally rude. Today it was exactly two months since they got together, she realised, and she quietly mourned the loss of attention and appreciation on this day that should've been more special.

Naruto paid for the flowers, thanked her quietly and also asked if she could keep quiet about this. Ino promised him that and waved goodbye to him as he went out. With a sigh she leaned on the counter again and daydreamed about her future prince charming, whose visible features were still rather invisible.

As the sky darkened and one cloud after another became invisible, Shikamaru lifted himself from the ground using his elbows. He sat in the high grass of his favourite hill, and with a yawn he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes. He thought about heading home, since it was getting rather late, but the thought of his mother scolding him for being out all day and not doing any work at home made him modify his decision. Instead he settled on taking a stroll through the village before finally forcing himself to head home.

He stood up and shoved his hands down his pockets as he started walking in a calm pace. He didn't really pay much attention to where his feet led him, so when he most suddenly bumped into Ino he was rather surprised.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, I were just in my thoughts and, well, I'm really sorry oh god is that broken? I should replace it, I really should I am so sorry…" he stopped, realising he was rambling and looked apologetic at Ino who was covered in dirt from the pot he had just caused her to drop. It was on the ground, shattered in hundreds of pieces. She sighed, brushed some loose dirt from her apron and smiled softly at him.

"It's alright Shika, you don't have to replace it. As long as you help me clean this up!"

He nodded and followed her into the shop where he received another pot to put the pieces in. she herself grabbed an old broom. He felt a slight blush creep up onto his cheeks, embarrassed he turned his back to her pretending to be busy picking up the shards. He didn't really know why, but he'd always liked her calling him Shika. She was actually the founder of that nickname, and as well the only user of it. It always gave him this weird, unfamiliar, warm feeling.

After a whole lot of brushing and picking, the outsides of the Yamanaka flower shop looked rather nice. All that was left was the dirt on all of Ino's clothes, but Shikamaru spared himself from asking her if he could help her out in that case. Everything would probably just come out the wrong way anyway, so he refrained. After a short moment of awkward silence, she broke it asking why he even was out this late.

"Well I was cloud-watching and then I guess I just lost track on time." He confessed. "And before going home I just wanted to take a walk, and here I ended up. What about you?"

"Sounds like the Shikamaru I know." Ino laughed. "Well I was just about to close up the shop, then I bumped into you, literally, when I was picking up the pots from the outside ornaments."

"I'm sorry about that." Shikamaru said, once again. This time Ino just laughed.

"It's okay, I said! But if you really want to make it up I guess I could ask you to stay while I finish locking up and then follow me home."

He answered too quickly. "Sure."

Had she noticed? He had sounded so eager, which was firstly very unlike him and secondly very strange to him. Why would he be eager to follow her home? It wasn't a big deal. He scolded himself for this weird thinking, he was being way too troublesome for himself to handle right now. But Ino just went back into the shop to turn off the lights, and a few moments she came out again and locked the door. With a peculiar smug look on her face she hooked her arm with his and started walking. This was nothing new, she always did that and Shikamaru walked right next to her, not minding her old habit.

They reached her house way too soon, and Shikamaru found himself rather downhearted by it.

"Well, I guess this is it then. Goodnight Ino."

"Goodnight Shikamaru. And can you promise me to actually _try _to sleep when you get home? You look so tired. How have you been doing really? We haven't talked in a while."

Talked. _Talked. _Shikamaru knew far too well what this meant. She never used that word unless she meant the secret, long chats they used to frequently have when they were younger. It basically consisted in the two of them meeting up and talking with each other about deep things, things they couldn't really talk to anyone else about. They were each other's rocks, they told everything to each other. No secrets. But it had been a while since the last time now. About 3 months, Shikamaru would presume. A part of him really felt like he needed to _talk _to Ino right now, but another more sensible part of himself thought it would be a _really _bad idea. After all, he hadn't really felt like himself ever since Ino's relationship with Kiba was announced, although he couldn't really tell why. But he felt like it would be way too troublesome and embarrassing to confess this. He didn't even know himself what this meant. So he just shrugged his shoulders and put on a carefree face.

"Nah, well I'm okay I guess. I've just been working too much. Although, talking would be nice I guess. If you want to."

"Of course I want to! We just have to make some time for it. I'll contact you next week, okay?"

"Sure. But I should get going, now. Goodnight. It was nice seeing you, even though the uhm… circumstances." He blushed slightly, still a bit embarrassed.

"It was nice seeing you too Shika." She smiled at him. "Goodnight."

Shikamaru waved to her and made sure she got inside of her house before he started walking towards his own home. His hands were deep down his pockets, but his mind elsewhere. He was so confused. This was too troublesome for him to deal with, yet he couldn't really let it go. Why was there this warm feeling in his belly? And why did he react so strongly at the use of his old nickname?

"What a drag…" he said to himself as he sneaked into his home. So troublesome.


	2. Hummingbird

Chapter two: Hummingbird

The deafening tweets of the nearby birds gave Shikamaru a rather unpleasant awakening. It was early, the sun had barely broken out from behind the mist covering the soft, green hills in the horizon. He stretched and glanced over at his clock on the bedside table. It was only 7.35 am. On his day off.

"Oh man, what a drag!" the sudden chock from seeing the time and stretching out at the same moment made him fall on the floor with a low thud, making the wooden planks creak and the dust fly everywhere. Maybe he should clean up some day. At least not today.

Fairly irritated, he stood up from the floor and rubbed his now aching back. He thought about going back to bed, but then again he wasn't even tired anymore. After some time just standing by his bed, solemnly staring out the window he turned to fetch his clothes and shoes. He was going out for a walk.

Once he was outside, he breathed in the fresh cold morning air in his lungs. This made him cough a little and do weird faces while doing so, it was _too_ cold. He just hoped no one had seen him. He put his hands in their usual position, deep down his pockets, and started walking in a slow pace, not rushing anywhere. He wasn't really the type of person that would _ever _rush. Sometimes that was good, and sometimes not. But most of the time he didn't really bother. He found the majority of things in this world too troublesome to give too much thought to. Especially women, they were mostly just troublesome, nothing else. For being a man with an IQ hitting the barrier of 200, he wasn't really engaged in anything. He didn't even had a steady job at the moment. Basically, he never gave a damn unless it was about an issue important for him. Which, it rarely was.

He looked up, realising he had without even thinking of it, walked in the direction of Yamanaka's flower shop. Well, wasn't this just embarrassing? He quickly turned into a sideway alley which showed up just to be a dead end. Slightly annoyed, he spun around to take another way when an incoherent humming was approaching his position. He froze, not really knowing why, and remained still a bit into the alley, undetectable for the humming person. His jaw dropped when he noticed the tiny blonde unlocking the doors of the flower shop and walking inside. He was about to leave his hiding place and go say hello to her as she started putting out some random pots flooded with colourful flowers of all sorts, but the sudden appearance of a rather unpleasant _friend_ made him stop. It was Kiba. God dammit.

"Hey Ino babe, whatcha doin?" he asked rather rudely to his girlfriend, unnecessary since it was fairly obvious what she was doing.

"Kiba I'm working, please don't disturb me right now." Ino's answer was short and laconic. Shikamaru was astonished. Weren't boyfriends and girlfriends always happy with each other? Wasn't that why they were even together in the first place? But oh well, what did he know? He had never had a girlfriend, hell he had never even had a crush on anyone. Sometimes he thought to himself that his only love was the clouds. He suddenly got to think of that stupid assignment they had gotten 10 years ago at the academy, on one of his last week of being just a regular student. It was weird, he had never given that single paper any thought at all until now, and all these years he had just repressed it far off in his unconscious. At the sudden thought of the academy some fragments of their conversation caught his attention. He concentrated his listening.

"Well, I heard they're gonna arrange like a throwback party at the academy next week."

"Really? For who?"

"Us I guess. I spoke to Kurenai and she said it was for students who graduated 10 years ago. So…" he paused briefly to do the simple math in his head. "I suppose it's for us. You're gonna go?"

"I don't know honestly…" Ino said, looking puzzled. "Well of course it would be fun seeing everyone, but I might have to work."

"Eh! Just leave it to your mum, she can handle it can't she?"

"Yeah, but I have to ask her first if she actually _can_." Ino gave Kiba an annoyed glare which he didn't see.

"Okay, great! Well, I'm off. Gotta go training with Shino. See you later hun." With those words and a brief kiss on Ino's cheek he jogged off down the street.

Shikamaru breathed out, he could finally leave his hiding place without bumping into an awkward conversation with Kiba on whether he had been laid yet or not or something. Somehow, it seemed that at times Kiba was the biggest gossiper in town. He always bragged about himself, but yet he always wanted to know everything from his friends, mostly the dirty secrets of course. Kiba always teased Shikamaru because he knew he had never gotten a girlfriend, and truth was actually that he was, in fact, still a virgin. That didn't really bother Shikamaru too much, but sometimes when looking at all of his friends getting girlfriends he couldn't help but think if there was something wrong with him. And, well, Kiba wasn't really helping him get over that issue.

-X-

Ino was just finishing off her work of opening up the shop as she caught a glimpse of a pineapple pony-tailed man sneaking out from the an alley just across the street. Was that Shikamaru? Before she had time to react he had gone too far down the road for her to say hello. Oh stupid early mornings, Ino thought. Now I'm even too tired to recognize my own friend in time!

_Friend._ She thought about the word as she entered the shop again to fix some things in the connecting greenhouse. Where do you draw a line between friends and _best _friends? What about friendship and _love? _Ino was feeling rather gloomy, thinking about that. She realised she wasn't even sure herself anymore, considering her relationship with Kiba. He had been her friend up until they started going out on his request. She still thought of him as a friend, since they rarely did what couples usually did. They had kissed, like for real, twice. _Twice. _And yesterday was their two months anniversary. Not that she actually _liked_ kissing Kiba, he somehow smelled like dog all the time. He wasn't even her type. Suddenly, the bell by the door jingled, and Ino's face immediately lit up.

"Forehead! What are you doing here?"

The pink-haired girl smiled at her. "Hi Ino-pig. I just stopped by to see if you wanted to have lunch with me?"

"Sure Sakura, I'd love to." Ino said. "I close up at 12, I'll meet you there. Where are we going?"

"Ramen noodle place? I mean, we mostly go there." Sakura pointed out. Ino almost felt stupid for asking.

"Good. See you!" She threw a last dazzling smile at Sakura before she left the shop, leaving behind only a faint echo of the jingling bell.

Ino leaned on the counter again, at least feeling a bit more positive now than before.

-X-

"So, what do you think?"

Tsunade eyed Shikamaru as she was waiting for his response. He sighed before he answered. This was going to be such a drag.

"Sure, why not?"

"Great! You will start immediately on Monday, you'll only have one group to lead that day by 11 o'clock. Come to me when you're done and I'll give you a schedule. Got it?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru answered, just wanting to get out of the Hokage's small and clammy office. He had never liked being in small rooms like this one.

"Great. Dismissed. Next!"

The door flung open by the person standing outside for his turn to borrow some of Tsunade's valuable time, and Shikamaru took his chance to finally get out. He needed to go to his favourite hill, watch the clouds and just relax. And he definitely needed to ponder on _why_ he had just signed up to teach at the academy.

As he reached the top of the hill, he gladly laid down and stretched out in the soft grass. He closed his eyes and embraced the calmness, but he was interrupted immediately by the faint sound of his name. His nickname. This person, he didn't mind getting disturbed by though. The voice came closer.

"Shika? Shika! Oh, there you are!"

She bumped down in the grass next to him and pointed on his arm until he opened his eyes with a slightly irritated look on her. After a moment of staring, he finally spoke.

"What Ino?"

"I just wanna hang with you, and it's quite hurried since I'm supposed to meet Sakura in 15 minutes."

"Then why now? Can't we meet afterwards?" He honestly couldn't think of anything being so urgent that they _had to _hang out right here and now. They rarely even spoke anymore, she just hung out a lot with Sakura and he… well, he hung out with himself.

"Well, yeah, but you know I wanted to ask you how your meeting with Tsunade went? Choji told me you were summoned there. What happened?"

"She offered me a part-time job, teaching at the academy." He said. "I said yes."

"Isn't that great! I'm happy for you Shika!" she exclaimed and hugged him. Something about her hugging him and hearing his nickname at the same time made his heart skip a beat. He sighed inwardly as he hugged her back with one arm. What was happening to him?

"So, I guess I should get going now, Sakura's waiting," Ino said with a funny smile. "Promise me we'll see each other soon okay?"

"Sure," he said and waved goodbye to her as she ran down the hill. "I promise" he added, almost whispering it to himself. Ugh, he needed someone less troublesome to hang with. He decided on searching up Choji.

Not that he didn't like being with Ino, he loved it. But she was a girl, and as most girls she was troublesome. Therefore, Choji would be much more of a calmer company. He found him, of course, nearby the town's barbeque place.

"Hey, Choji! Wanna come with me and eat? I'll buy."

Choji gladly said yes and accompanied Shikamaru to their usual table. As they sat down, Choji immediately started to jabber about the academy throwback party.

"…and everyone's gonna be there, and I bet it'll be lots of food too! Are you coming Shikamaru?"

"Hmm, depends on what we're supposed to do there." Parties didn't exactly float his boat.

"As of what I've heard, we're basically just gonna hang out and maybe they'd bring some nostalgia to it. Basically, it will all be a nostalgic evening with good food."

Food food food. He would've guessed that was on Choji's mind. Nostalgia wasn't exactly his thing either, to be honest.

"Is Ino coming?" why was that all of a sudden so important.

"Yeah, we talked about it this morning. What about you?"

He gave it a few more seconds of thought before he relied. "Troublesome, but sure." With that answer he gained a smile from Choji before he went on to chat about other things. Shikamaru was grateful. Either, Choji was so oblivious he would never notice the slightly concerned intonation on his last question. Or, he had noticed and was just being a good friend not asking him about it. He definitely hoped on the first option. He didn't want Choji to dwell on things like that, especially when Shikamaru himself didn't know what he dealt with.

Why all these thoughts about Ino all of a sudden? Why? Well, sure she was one of his best friends but still it was unusual for him to spend this much thought on _anyone_. Maybe he was just feeling a friendly concern for her, since she somehow hadn't been quite like her old, witty self for some time now. Maybe he just didn't like Kiba, and that was why? Ugh, he got weary of thinking this through. So, for the meantime, he decided on just trying to suppress it.

-X-


	3. Bittersweet

_Chapter 3: Bittersweet_

**Just want to thank everyone who's been sending me these lovely reviews thus far, you guys are amazing and your kind words really help me with my writing, it's inspiring! Big thanks!**

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-X-

Ino closed her eyes and let the sun and the chilly breeze embrace her as she leaned back in her chair and listened to Sakura chatting next to her. They were located at a random, sunny outdoor dining place. Unexpectedly, something she said came to Ino's attention.

"…and guess what, I found these wonderful flowers outside of my door yesterday! They didn't have any note on them, so I'm guessing some secret admirer," Sakura giggled like a little girl at this, Ino couldn't help smiling at her. Suddenly some events of last night came to her mind.

"Wait, how did the bouquet look? Did it look like something I could've done?"

"Definitely! I don't know anyone in Konoha being as good as you are in bouquet-making!" she exclaimed and started describing how it had looked. Ino knew immediately which bouquet she was going on about.

"Strange… you know, don't take this wrong but I think I made that bouquet for Naruto yesterday… to bring to Hinata."

"Oh… well, maybe he got them wrong then." Ino saw how Sakura's whole figure shrunk down in her seat. She immediately felt guilty.

"_Or_, he lied to me about giving them to Hinata. That's a very plausible option, think about it. He might wouldn't have wanted me to tell you." Sakura looked a bit better at these words, but then her face altered as she recalled something.

"Right, I was going to ask you something! I completely forgot," she smiled apologetically. Ino forwarded her to continue. "How are things Ino? You've seemed a bit… off lately. Is there something between you and Kiba?"

Ino exhaled before she answered. "I… Don't know actually. I guess I've been trying to figure it out myself to be honest." She took a deep breath before she continued with her next, dreadful sentence. "And about Kiba… Well, to be honest, everything is wrong between us. It's never been right."

She felt tears threatening to fall as she thought about how indeed awful her relationship with Kiba was. Shape up, Ino! She thought and tried to collect herself to continue. She had to keep it together, she was sitting on a goddamn café, for Christ sake.

"But I guess we're managing. I mean, every couple has troubles right?"

"Yeah, but Ino seriously this sounds bad. Do you even like the guy? I've honestly never pictured you and Kiba together." Ino deliberately avoided Sakura's concerned gaze, as she knew she'd see the truth in her eyes. Sakura always found her out. Instead, she tried to change the subject.

"Really? Who did you picture me with then? Choji? Ha ha!" Ino laughed out loud at the mere thought of her and her chubby friend together, but her laughter sounded strained, fake. But Sakura understood her need of a change, so she went along with Ino's directions of this conversation. "I always pictured you with Shikamaru, to be honest."

Ino nearly spat out her drink. What the _hell._ Shikamaru? What was Sakura even thinking? The two of them had been friends even longer than she had known who Sakura even was, the simple thought of being _together_ with him felt foreign, weird.

"W-what? Why would you do that? We don't fit together. I mean, just no, we couldn't…" she stopped eventually, realising she was rambling.

"Well… I think you do. Tell me I'm wrong, but you always hang out with each other, when you're not with me of course, and you've always got each other's backs. You care so much for one another, so is it so bizarre I think you'd make a good pair?" to Ino's frustration Sakura was grinning at her own, obviously true, words. And even more frustrating was, Ino knew she was right. They _were_ as close as Sakura said, but still the thought of Shikamaru being her boyfriend… hmm, it just wasn't really familiar.

"Well anyway," Sakura said and stood up from her chair. "We should get going to fix our dresses to the reunion. It's tomorrow, remember?"

Ino had completely forgotten. But the thought of dressing up, and spending some more time doing girly stuff with her best girlfriend made her smile, even though she still was a bit sceptic to the reunion. "Sure, just be sure to don't make me look bad," Ino said jokingly, walking away haughty from Sakura, who soon came along and punched her arm lightly with a laughter. "Sure, miss beauty-queen."

-X-

"This is a _ridiculous_ idea, Choji. I mean it,"

"Eh, come on now! We got to look good tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, sure, but what if someone see us? I don't want to be seen… _shopping._"

He spoke the word with loathing. Choji just shrugged it off. They were both situated in the only shop in town selling fancy clothing. The exterior of the shop wasn't exactly gaudy, but it looked rather luxurious on the inside. They were on a mission to find decent clothes for the reunion party. Shikamaru didn't even think he owned a nice shirt, but it didn't really bother him. Although, it had come to Choji's mind during their meal and he had now forced Shikamaru into a real clothing shop for the first time in life he could remember. His mum had always bought him his clothes, it was almost an embarrassing fact he didn't really wanted to acknowledge. So in a way, he guessed he should be thankful. But it was just such a _drag._

He managed to find a comfortable bench near the window, where he could sit and wait while Choji spoke to the sales assistant. He watched people pass by; laughing, talking, discussing. Somehow, it kind of fascinated him. He had always been the quiet kid, just standing by, not really participated yet always watching what everyone else did. Wishing he could be more accepted, more normal. The loud, popular kids had often marvelled him. Why where they like that? Was status something you were born with? Why wasn't he more like that?

The sudden apparition of two well-known heads, one blond and one pink, made him snap out of his daydream. Fairly, the only girls he knew was heading right towards the shop they were in. Shikamaru sighed deeply, knowing there was no way they weren't going to ask why the two boys with the least sense of fashion in the whole of Konoha were in this particular shop. He curled up on the bench, hoping to not be seen. The jingling of the bell by the door who just opened brought in a chilly breeze and a loud girly laughter. Goddamn it, troublesome girls.

-X-

_About 5 minutes earlier_

As Ino accompanied Sakura to the only fancy clothing shop in town, she contemplated on her conversation with Sakura back at the café. Her and Shikamaru. Was it really such a bad match after all? When she thought about it, she found that they'd probably complement each other in at least good looks, but not really in brains since he was _ridiculously _smart. But although, thinking that way of her friend, it still felt rather wrong. Maybe she could work with it though. But for what point? It's not like Shikamaru's ever going to notice me, or anyone for that matter.

"Here we are! I'm so excited!" she squealed and laughed as they entered the shop. Ino couldn't help but smirk at her friend, but it quickly dropped as she recognized the lazy guy by the window, and the only bench in the room. She felt a blush creep up on her skin, as if he had heard her thoughts earlier. Their eyes met briefly and he smiled dimly at her before Sakura dragged her violently towards the dress section. Ino shrugged a sudden uncomfortable feeling off, and tried to concentrate on picking out dresses. It didn't exactly help that Sakura kept giving her smug looks, giggling and pointing in the direction of Shikamaru, who was still sitting in the window sporting an extremely bored look, only reacting when Choji practically forced him to participate.

"Shh, shut up!" Ino finally said in a low tone. "Stop it now already, and try on your goddamn dress, forehead!" The pinkette didn't take offence by this at all, she just gave Ino a meaning look before she disappeared into the fitting room with heaps of colourful dresses. Ino herself had only picked 5. 3 in different purple shades and styles, one black and one heavens blue.

She swiftly felt a presence behind her, making her spin around only to look up in a smirking, defined face.

"My, you look very bored for being a girl in a shop full of dresses."

"Now you're just being stereotypical. I'm actually extremely bored, because forehead-girl takes days to try out clothes you see." She was amazed at how calm she sounded. Inside, the whole of her being quivered hence his closeness. Luckily for Ino, he didn't notice and unabashedly took the seat next to her.

"Choji's a pain right now, I need a soothing Ino by my side instead."

Her heart fluttered at his words. Gosh, Ino, stop this. Focus. You have a goddamn boyfriend. _Who doesn't love you!_ Ino muffled her inner voice, she couldn't afford to think of her best friend in a way that was more than friendly. Besides, it would lead nowhere anyway. She settled on small talk instead.

"Looking forward to tomorrow? Wearing fancy clothes and all, I know that's your style," she teased.

"Ha, ha very funny. I just _love_ wearing clothes I can't move in." he laughed lightly. She found herself enjoying his laughter. Weird. "What about you then? Don't you just love happenings like this?"

"Well, I usually do, but I'm honestly not very thrilled about this one." She confessed, flicking her bangs aside so she could see him properly. He wore a rather puzzled expression.

"Why is that?" she had the feeling this was the beginning of a _talk_, and she definitely knew she couldn't spill her darkest secrets in here, so she gracefully stepped over the mine and swiftly avoided answering directly.

"Oh, nothing I'm just not in the mood. Been working too much I think, I need some time off."

To that, he simply shrugged his shoulders and that was the end of it. Ino was glad he wasn't very talkative, it was pleasant hanging out with him sometimes for a change, instead of Sakura who always talked so much she could fill an entire book-franchise. After some time of _surprisingly_ comfortable silence, Shikamaru was called over by Choji and the same time Sakura appeared from the fitting room wearing a light green dress. It fit her poorly, but Ino got up a solution in mind instantly.

"No, not green forehead. But they have the same in pale yellow over here that will be much better…"

After spending another 2 hours in the clammy shop, they finally bought their dresses and shoes and got out in the fresh evening air. Ino felt delighted, light wind brushing her pale cheeks. She waved goodbye to Sakura who decided to go search up Naruto and steered her feet towards one of her favourite places. It was actually not far from the hill Shikamaru used to lay on watching clouds, but her place was located in an old oaken tree in a slope not too far away. When she reached it, she briefly thought on whether she'd still be able to climb up the tree or not, but as she never said no to a challenge she simply started climbing without hesitation.

The view was amazing, especially at sunset or sunrise. The whole village bathed in orange, pink and every other marvellous colour displaying on the clear sky above her. She closed her eyes as she leaned against the trunk, listening to some birds chirping and the sound of the rustling leafs around her. She daydreamed away to another place, another dimension where her life wasn't as complicated. Where she'd never gotten together with Kiba, where she could let her thoughts free instead of restraining them like she had to now. Shikamaru's face, and a faint echo of his laughter appeared behind her eyelids and she flinched slightly. But this time, she didn't push him out of her mind, instead she let him in, let all of her thoughts flood her. It was a relishing feeling.

_I always pictured you with Shikamaru, to be honest._

Sakura's words flew through her head, and this time she actually thought they made sense. Ino smiled sadly for herself, because she knew she wouldn't have a chance anyway. The feeling could be described as standing on a stage throwing roses at yourself, except you deliberately aim the thorns at your most vulnerable spots. Realising, after all these years, that the one person she could truly love had no idea of it and thinking of it would only hurt her more. She was stuck on that stage, piercing herself with the thorns, in bittersweet love. She couldn't have him. It was surreal. She felt a hot tear run down her cheek as she was climbing down the tree. She wiped it away with the back of her hand and began walking home, the bag of clothes weighing her down more than ever.

She had deliberately found herself stuck in a bittersweet love.

_What a drag._

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**Just thought I'd ask, does anyone want me to write some parts in a NaruSaku point-of-view? I haven't decided on it yet, and if I would it would still appear as _minor._ Let me hear your opinions ! :)**


	4. Dancing With A Poet, Struggling

_Chapter 4: Dancing with a poet, struggling with a dog_

**WARNING: violent content, strong language. **

disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I'd like to

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-X-

One button, two buttons. Three… goddamn it. Why was it so hard buttoning a shirt?

Shikamaru gave up, and until further notice he left it open. It was 7pm and he was supposed to be at the academy in an hour. For all he cared, he might as well stay home. But he had to go, at least for his friends' sake. For Ino. Tsh, too much of a troublesome thought. He quickly shook it off and reached for a cigarette. He didn't really knew himself when he had started, but he was too deeply addicted now to stop. Not that it mattered to him. His life felt so motionless at times anyhow. With a smoke between his slightly parted lips, he finally managed to concentrate enough to do his shirt right this time. Was he nervous? No? He glanced at the clock on his bedside table anxiously, he had 30 minutes left. He tried to soothe himself with positive thoughts. It wasn't really effective.

Walking down the streets with his hands shoved down his pockets as usual, he watched and analysed the people he passed. An old, bad, habit of his. He saw everything from lively little children playing around in the streets to old and haggard men and women, some of them trying to just find the way to the home they'd forgotten the directions to. He also saw couples. _Loads_ of them. It almost felt as if was searching for it, for whenever he took a turn somewhere onto another street he immediately bumped into a new one. He suddenly felt himself wanting to be a part of something like that, having someone that he could be just adorable with as well. Someone who cared just as much for him as he cared for her. An average girl, not too pretty and not too ugly but with a kind heart and mind. As he thought of it, blonde locks of hair and eyes as blue as the sky dimmed his mind. He tried to shake it off, but it would linger despite his lousy efforts. He had almost reached the academy by now, and he was relieved. Maybe this would turn his thoughts around? Because if he were to be honest with himself, they were _very _troublesome right now.

-X-

"So, as we've now enjoyed dinner and each other's company, we thought we'd bring some fun into this! We promised you a night of nostalgia, right?"

Iruka sensei was standing on the small stage that was located in one end of the great hall that usually served for indoor sports and training. He looked all thrilled and Ino had a feeling this was going to be awkward. She glanced over to Sakura on her right to try to catch her attention, but she was all about Naruto for the moment. Ino's table placement literally sucked. She had sat herself between Sakura and Kiba, for both friendly and safety reasons. The one she _really _wanted to sit next to was at the next table, but she had purposely avoided him to not accidentally spill her mind to him. She felt like she was on the verge of doing something drastic with her life, but she did not want that to happen here, tonight. She watched the bored genius as he was busy playing around with his utensils. Ino smiled to herself at his not so common childishness, she loved that about him. He could be all serious one moment, only to go watch some clouds the next.

Iruka sensei's voice brought her back to reality. "Under all of your plates, there's an old assignment of yours." A rustling sound spread throughout the room as everyone wanted to check if it was true. Under her own, Ino found a simple sheet of paper while others drew out whole stacks of papers.

"However, you have not received your own. You have received another old classmate's assignment, and your task now is to find out who the writer is. Have fun!"

Ino glanced at hers, which only consisted of a few sentences. The handwriting was ridiculously easy to recognize, even after all this time.

_What is love? _

_Where does love originate from? To many people hearts symbolize love, but the human heart is really just a muscle pumping around blood in our bodies. Just doing its job. Hearts are actually a quite shallow sign of love when you think of it, souls would be more appropriate. But does souls exist really? If so, how does they look? Where does they originate?_

She felt delirious and rather shaken. Those words, those beautiful words written by _him_, reminded her of an old compliment she'd gotten years back from him. She didn't exactly remember when it had been, she just remembered it as a sunny day on top of his favourite hill. They were about 8 years old then, not knowing much about the world, or about love for that sake. He'd been teaching her how to cloud watch.

"_Look at that one. What do you see?"_

"_A… fish maybe? Or a… whale?"_

"_Very good. You're a fast learner." He smiled at her and she smiled at him._

"_What about that one?" _

"_Hmm… I don't know. How about you tell me what you see?" _

_He suddenly blushed for no reason and Ino wondered why. She just couldn't bring herself to ask, she just admired it in silence as he didn't notice._

"_Would you laugh at me if I said I see a heart?" _

"_Nope, I see one too you know. It's nothing wrong with expressing what you see, or what you feel. As long as you work for it to come out right." _

_He looked over to her for a moment and smiled before he replied. "You must have a pretty soul, Ino." _

The memory brought a dim smile to her lips. And also, she felt like laughing at herself. She'd always had a hard time following her own advices, especially that one. Oh well, she thought. I guess I'm just working on it.

-X-

It was late evening, and the party was ravishing. Someone had moved over all the tabled and put on music, and now the dancefloor was completely packed. Shikamaru was standing in a corner, leaning against the wall, his eyes set on the one true beauty of this room. She was a stunner, looking strikingly gorgeous in a mid-short lavender dress. His heart was thorn, his mind was twisted. He couldn't recall when he had realised it, but it was a simple true fact by now. He was inevitably, unconditionally and entirely in love with Ino Yamanaka.

Then, abruptly, she had caught him off guard by approaching him until she stood right next to him. He flinched and turned to her. She was one big smile. Before he had time to think, she had spoken, her voice hard to distinguish in the noisiness.

"Dance with me." She beamed.

"Wha-what? No, Ino you know I can't dance…"

"Oh come on, Shika! Dance with me!"

Something there made him completely change his mind, and he let her drag him out to the dancefloor. He was awkward with his movements, he didn't like dancing at all. But Ino was the complete opposite. This was her world, her kingdom. And she fitted in perfectly, swaying perfectly to the beat. Shikamaru watched her in awe.

The sudden switch from some pop song to a slower ballad was a welcoming change for Shikamaru. At least he _knew_ how to dance waltz, even if he didn't really like it. But of course, dancing with _her_ would make it rather enjoyable. She came off track at the switch and peeked awkwardly at him through her bangs. He reached out his hand to her, like a gentleman.

"May I, Miss?" His old-fashioned manners made her laugh, and his heart melted. She took hold of his hand and let him spin her around tenderly with his other hand on her narrow waist. They swayed gently side to side, and gradually reduced the distance between their bodies. She leaned closer to his ear as she whispered.

"I liked your assignment, by the way. Never would've guessed I'm dancing with a poet?"

Shikamaru had the darkness to thank for his violent blush now being concealed. Wasn't this just too convenient? _Her_, out of anyone who could've, got it. Read it. _Liked it._ He was in a bliss, he never wanted this dance to end.

It did, eventually though. He kept up his style by placing a light kiss on her fair hand before leaving her and the magical moments that had just passed. He decided to retreat to the wall again, he didn't want to dance with anyone else anyway. From the distance, in the corner of his eye, he saw Kiba drag Ino out. He was holding her arm, not looking very happy. Shikamaru got nosy. He wouldn't want to disturb them, since the painful fact still remained that they were a couple. But he needed a smoke anyway, so he cautiously followed the pair outside. Troublesome thoughts gathered up in his head.

-X-

"Okay, Ino, you better tell me what the fuck is going on."

"What? I don't understand what you're trying to point out here, Kiba."

"Oh, don't you try. I saw you in there." He had this furious stare at her, and for the first time in forever she got genuinely scared of facing him.

"No, you'll have to explain more thoroughly." She tried to keep on a confident mask, but beneath the surface she was shaking to her core.

"The dance, Ino? Are you stupid or something? Do you think _I'm _stupid? I saw it all."

"Stop accusing me of something I'm not even aware of!" she realised she had started to quiver, and did her best to hide it. This was the conversation she had feared ever since she came clear to herself about loving Shikamaru. She had known it would happen eventually, but never expected it this early. The whole evening had been so brilliant until now. Now, her whole world crumbled beneath her. What had gone so wrong?

"How long have this been going on? You and _Shikamaru_." He spoke his name in disgust, as if he wanted to spit on it.

"I… please let me explain Kiba, it's not like you think!"

"Pfft, yeah sure. Like I haven't heard that one before! You…" he struggled with finding the right word. "You whore!"

It hit her like a stone would've. She knew then, that nothing she said would fix this. Nothing would indemnify this. But she could still try to win some authority.

"Yeah, right, call me that. Call me whatever the fuck you want, like you care!"

"Excuse me?" He looked astonished. He hadn't expected that. But he was quick with his defence. "What makes you think that? I'm your fucking boyfriend Ino, don't you think I care?"

"Oh please," she threw her head back in laughter. It sounded fake, it sounded like someone else. Someone confident. "You never loved me in the first place, just admit it."

Suddenly a thought came to her, a thought that would bring her victory in this argument. How many times hadn't she seen him lingering around her like a fly is attracted to forgotten food? The fact was so obvious, she had seen right through it this whole time.

"You love Hinata. You only dated me to get to her."

To this he had nothing to say at first, and she carried on in artificial triumph.

"You bastard! You're just too much of a coward to approach her yourself, so you _used_ me. You're pathetic, Kiba. And here you come accusing _me_ of being fake? Look at yourself, loser. You're a weakling."

What she did not expect was his right hand moving rapidly towards her face, and nothing in the world could stop it. Or?

-X-

He saw his hand move and then he heard the loud slap. He heard the thump of Ino's body falling to the ground, and the low grunt as she reached it. But clearest of all sounds was Kiba.

"Shut up! Shut the fuck up, you don't know shit! You're little miss perfect wanting everything, and after all you dated _me_ as well! You're just as pathetic then, you lying fucking whore!"

The cigarette fell down in a nearby puddle, completely forgotten when Shikamaru approached the bawling boy with clenched fists. Deprived of hesitation, Shikamaru struck Kiba right in the face with a powerful left-hook. He flew backwards, but was soon on his feet. Damn it, he's too good, Shikamaru thought. He wasn't really used to getting into fights, unlike Kiba.

"Well, what have we fucking got here? Come to save your little whore, eh? Well you can have her for all I care. But I don't like being jumped at, Nara."

Before Shikamaru had time to ponder on what Kiba meant he faced his knuckles hard and was brutally thrown on the ground. Kiba kicked his waist, making him lose his breath. He tried to get Kiba by the legs, but he had already straddled him and was trading out blow after blow towards Shikamaru's already bruised face. He lost track of time, sight and sound.

Somewhere, faintly in the background he could hear Ino scream. Scream at Kiba, scream for help. Scream for god knows what. Every time he tried to fight back, he received multiple hits making him eventually give up. The whole world was turned upside down, and somewhere Kiba had stopped. Shikamaru carefully stood up.

"Not trying again are you, soft boy?"

"Shut the fuck up Kiba." Shikamaru recognized Sakura's voice, when had she arrived?

He tried to open his eyes fully to find Ino. Instead she found him, while all he saw was the rest of the party guests. They'd probably reacted to Ino's scream he thought, as she led him away slightly.

"Are you okay? We called an ambulance, it's on the way."

He managed to smile at her still so beautiful face, now bruised on her right cheek. He wasn't okay, not at all. But by her side, he felt blessed. But he was a bit confused though.

"Why did he… hit you? What happened Ino?" he was surprised when she turned away, mumbling her reply.

"No, it's nothing. Just a simple misunderstanding."

"Like hell it's nothing, I know Kiba is violent, but what happened for him to become like that?"

"So now you blame _me_? Is that what you're trying to say?" her voice sounded irritated and morose. It didn't sound like the Ino he knew. He immediately regretted his words, wishing he could take them back.

"No, Ino I didn't mean it like that… I'm sorry, but I care about you,"

"Then maybe you should've let it be." Her words shocked him, and he silenced. Why wouldn't she tell him? Was this _his_ fault? Well, he didn't know but that would be the easiest explanation. For now, he didn't really know what to do. He looked over at Ino who stood next to him, her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes turned towards the ground, face damp from crying. His heart stung as if pierced with a thousand needles seeing her tears, knowing he couldn't do anything to stop them.

"Well then… If that's how you want it. Bye for now."

With those words he left her, walking towards the awaiting paramedics. His heart was shattered in a million pieces, he would never be whole again. He knew, that walking away from her like that left a piece of him there with her. A major part of his soul, his whole being, was damaged. He felt like screaming, crying, hitting the walls, ripping his hair out. But he just walked in silence. In deep, troublesome agony.

-X-

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**Please let me hear your thoughts on this! Also please tell me if you feel like something's missing in this fic, and I'd be more than happy :)**


	5. He loves you too

_Chapter 5: He loves you too_

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**I'd like to give special thanks to **Sumtyms **& **ShikaInoisthebest**, your wonderful reviews means so much.****  
**

**Thank you to anyone else writing reviews, your support is invaluable.**

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-X-

I had been a week since the reunion, and the bruises had almost faded away. The pain hadn't faded the slightest though. Throughout the week, he hadn't seen the tiniest glimpse of her. It was strange, because his life still felt rather normal. Still, there was a major piece of the puzzle missing and that piece was Ino.

He exhaled as he marked the last assignment on his desk. Being a teacher wasn't really hard, but the grading part was awfully dull. All of his students had already finished for the day, and he was left in his office. He stacked the papers in a pile, and glared out the window. It was late afternoon, and the sun hung low on the sky. The clouds were fluffy and white, perfect for cloud watching.

He locked his office door and proceeded to walk up to his favourite hill. Although, his preferred ploy didn't feel quite as calming and satisfying as ever. Something was missing from his life, and he knew damn well what it was. It annoyed him, why would he even feel this way? Stupid feelings, always so troublesome. It wasn't even as if she loved him _back_, they hadn't been together or anything so why would he crave her company like this _now_? He was so irate right now he didn't even feel like cloud watching anymore. The dark thoughts clouding up in his mind was enough to keep his mind occupied. He went there anyway, thinking he could need a relief from everything else that was stressing him. Even though all of his friends knew the cause of his slightly deformed face, he didn't want the news to spread _everywhere. _It wasn't the easiest request though, since at least half of his students had already questioned it numerous times.

A couple of minutes later he was seated in the tall, soft grass of his hill. In his hands he held a pocketknife, twisting and twirling it around in his hands. How had things gone so bad, that he had reached the point of considering something like this? Wouldn't it be just too easy? Up here, all alone, nobody would notice until it was too late. It was tempting, but he made the wise adult decision of putting it back in his pocket. Mainly because he couldn't be bothered, and also a heart-breaking vision of Ino popped up in his head. Instead he withdrew a smoke from his pocket and lit it, finally bringing some piece to his soul. He knew too well it was bad, but he didn't care as long as it was the only thing soothing him most of the time. He laid back in the grass and closed his eyes, enjoying the stillness around him. It didn't last very long though.

A sudden shadow falling over him, covering him from the sun, alerted him of someone else's presence. He knew already who it was, without even opening his eyes. The way he clumsily walked, and the sound of his heavy breath revealed him immediately. Still keeping his eyes shut, Shikamaru spoke first.

"Why hello Naruto, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He could almost feel the blonde boy's astonishment as he replied.

"I need to talk to you Shikamaru, I need to straighten a few things up here." At this, the lazy boy finally opened his eyes, squinting at the setting sun. He gestured for him to go on.

"What's going on between you and Ino?"

"To _that_ I'm not going to answer, so if you please…"

"I'm serious Shikamaru, this is quite bad. I've been trying to reach Sakura for the past days, but she's been busy taking care of Ino. She says she's down, like really sad. She can't even manage the flower shop anymore."

Naruto had never been a man of smart words, but he was a man of good thought though. Shikamaru pondered what he just had been told.

"Is this true? Have you even seen it, like with your own eyes?"

"Not really, I just saw her after the reunion, right after you left for the hospital. She looked miserable, really." He looked very serious, so Shikamaru decided on that he could trust his words.

"Oh damn it… troublesome." He sighed, looked down and took a drag from his cigarette.

Naruto watched him for a moment, letting the information sink in before he spoke.

"So, what happened? Care to share?"

"Well, no, not if you're going to tell the entire village, I'm not going to 'share' anything with you."

"I won't tell, I promise," he put a hand on his shoulder rather awkwardly, as if to comfort him. At least, it infused Shikamaru with the feeling he could trust him.

"Well, it's somewhat simple to be honest. At least my side of the story." He paused, as if to collect himself or try to bring some courage into himself. "I'm in love with her, and the agonising fact that she does not and will not love me back is killing me."

He felt weird for telling Naruto this. _Naruto,_ out of all people in Konoha, he chose Naruto. But he seemed trustworthy, for the moment. He felt exposed, uncomfortable for letting out this much information on himself. He wasn't one to tell secrets, about others nor himself. This was pretty much the biggest secret, and biggest pain, of his life right now. Naruto's next question was not expected though.

"How do you know that?"

"Know _what_ exactly?"

"That she doesn't love you back?"

"I just know it, that's all. She'd never go for someone like me."

"Really? Well, speaking from own experience, I thought Sakura hated me. But then I found out she likes me too. Biggest surprise of my life. So I'm telling you, you never know."

"Well good for you then," he muttered. "But then again, give me one good reason why she would ever even _think _of loving me? What would make me so special?"

"Well, I can't really answer that. Although, I can use logic. I thought you was a master of that?" he teased. Shikamaru gritted his teeth.

"Just tell me already what your big conclusion is, Naruto." He was getting annoyed now. He didn't open up his soul and mind just to be mocked.

"Fine, fine relax. Look, Ino's sad right? And why? Is it because Kiba hit her? No, it was a week ago she'd be over that by now. Is it because of Kiba? No, I wouldn't think so either because it's pretty clear they're totally over and done with each other. Besides, their relationship wasn't even good from the start, so I'm guessing she's just happy it ended. This leaves us with a few options left, but only one person left. You. You get the picture? That's why I came up here, to figure it all out."

Shikamaru looked at him in interest. He hadn't even thought that far himself, and he must say he was impressed by that conclusion. It made sense, as Naruto said. He was the only person left in this drama. But why? He needed to figure out why. But who was there to ask? Ino? No freaking way.

"Makes sense what you're saying, Naruto. But why am I to blame? All I tried to do was to save her from Kiba."

"Just let me remind you Shikamaru, even though I didn't hear the conversation afterwards, you did leave her abruptly. What was the conversation about?"

"I asked her about what happened, but she didn't want to tell me. So I kept on asking, and she thought I was blaming _her_ for everything. Then… I don't really know what happened, I just know I walked away even though I wanted to stay more than anything. It just felt like she didn't want me there."

Damn, Naruto was better than any shrink. He actually made him talk.

"Then, I guess that was just a defensive technique to hide the truth from you. And _that_ is what we need to figure out. That is the real reason why you're both taking distance from each other."

"But how? It's not that easy since she won't even see me, and I doubt she'll spill her secrets to you either." _No offense, _he added in his thoughts.

"Easy. I'll just get Sakura on it. They're best friends, we'll know in no time. Then maybe you two should talk and settle this once and for all."

"Sounds upright and… rather well. But won't she look through it? She's smart, you know."

"Does it matter? As long as you two accept each other."

Shikamaru nodded and rose from the ground. He contemplated on their conversation as they joined each other going back to the village. Things were at least clearing up a bit from his troublesome inner skies.

-X-

Another tissue went down the bin, and Ino tried to collect herself.

"So, basically, my life is over. It's literally over, Sakura, I've fucked up everything."

This was the fifth of their meetings this week, Sakura was always there to dry Ino's tears. She'd been listening patiently each time, not interrupting when Ino spilled her agony. She'd been going over anything and everything over and over again. Why did she not tell him? It wasn't like anything was stopping her, and certainly not Kiba. She hadn't heard from him since the reunion, and she was honestly very relieved over that. His words and the look in his eyes as he left her there was still etched in her mind.

_Well then… If that's how you want it. Bye for now._

Bringing it up again evoked another flood of tears, and she let herself be hugged by Sakura who was just telling her comforting words. Sakura was being the best friend ever, but Ino still felt like shit. She saw no way out of this, how could she face Shikamaru ever again? Who knows, he might even find someone else while she was gone crying over her own stupidity. She did not know much at the moment, but she realised she could not let anyone else have him. Especially since she hadn't even given it a try.

Sakura let her go, fiddling with her phone to reply a text message or something. Ino dried her tears with yet another tissue and looked out the window at the sky. It was cloudy and reminded her oof him. For the at least thousandth time she asked her everlasting question.

"What should I do, Sakura?"

But this time, her pink haired friend surprised her by actually giving a proper answer. Before, she had only shrugged and then continued to comfort her. But something with her was changed, the look in her eyes different.

"You should talk to him, Ino. That's the only way to make things right."

"But…but I can't," she whispered. "Will he even want to talk to _me_?"

"Oh, Ino it doesn't matter! You love him right?"

The straight-on question and Sakura's outburst stunned Ino, who first wasn't capable of replying.

"Y-yes, I do? At least that's what my heart tells me, so I guess I do…" she took a breath. "Honestly, Sakura, how _do_ I know?"

"Well, if it feels right and it's everything you want in life, then I guess you could call it love. But I'm not sure either, pig I'm just talking from my own experience."

She paused and then suddenly let out a laughter. Ino turned her eyes towards her, one brow slightly raised.

"Remember when we used to roam around Sasuke? How we said we _loved_ him?" She explained. Ino smiled in recognition. That had been ages ago, but she remembered it well. Now, she realised they had all been in love with the _idea _of Sasuke, not the guy himself. What Sakura was trying to point out did made sense, she thought.

"Hmm, yeah I get it. So…_how_ should I do this?" confusion enveloped her again, and she frowned slightly. This would not be easy, not in any way.

"Well, I think it's going to be easier done than you think…"

"What makes you think that?"

"Ehm, well nothing I mean…" she hastily put her phone away.

"Oh, the text you got earlier, it was about me wasn't it! You're a terrible liar, forehead."

Sakura stuttered incoherent words, and Ino laughed.

"I'm not mad at you, forehead! But I do like to know when people talk about me, alright?"

"He loves you too!" Sakura blurted out, before she even had a chance to continue. Her words got stuck hanging in the air, and she was completely breath taken.

"Wh-what?!"

-X-


	6. Jitters (Brutal Honesty)

_Chapter 6: Jitters (brutal honesty)_

He ran. Ran through dense bushes and branches in some sort of forest. Screamed. Screamed out her name, waiting for a reply that did not come. Looking. He kept looking, everywhere with no trace of her.

Suddenly he reached an open plain. The dark, dense forest was gone with the wind and he was located in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a clear blue sky and a golden sun above. The sky was empty though, there was not even a single cloud. In fact, the whole world was empty. He yelled her name again, over and over without result. He was lost and gone, knowing nothing. He had no one to rely on, no one to consult with. The fear overcame him, he spun around and felt an ache in his lower back and head. He opened his eyes and found himself in his old room.

Thank goodness, only a troublesome dream. He reached for the side of the bed to drag himself up. He felt utterly tired, despite a whole night's sleep. His eyes fell on the old team 10 photo on his desk, and he smiled to himself. Good old days, where Ino had been just his bossy, yelling teammate that brought himself and Choji a bit forward when they were too lazy to do anything themselves. Things were so easy back then. A part of him wanted to lay down there and then and just cry over how crappy his life was becoming. But he didn't though, last time he cried was after his father's funeral. He wasn't really the type of person that cried, and he certainly did not want his mother to hear, or worse, see him.

Since he already was up, he decided on leaving the house early. He got dressed quickly and skipped breakfast to get away silently before his mother awakened. He really should get a place of his own soon, he thought. His mind trailed off, busy thinking about apartments. It was mostly to keep _her_ out of his mind, he didn't really mind living at home for the moment. But if he ever found a girl he might wanna move out… damn, there she was in his mind again. _Not _thinking of her seemed practically impossible.

He reached the academy early, and in thought he was the first one there he went through the doors not giving a single though that there might be someone else behind it. And of course, it was. He bumped into Naruto, who was working part time at the academy mostly doing paper work, making all of the papers he was holding rain all over the hall. He couldn't really persuade himself to verbally apologise, so he just hummed apologetically and stated picking up the papers. Naruto, on the other hand seemed extremely talkative this morning. Oh well, when wasn't he?

"Hey Shikamaru! Don't mind this, it's alright! Have you spoken to Ino yet?"

"Shh, don't say it out loud!" Shikamaru hissed at him. Looking rather displeased, Naruto continued in a lower tone.

"Fine, sorry! But have you?"

"No, I haven't. Not yet. Its 7:30 am Naruto, when would you suppose that I'd done it? Knocked on her window at night?" Despite the heavy sarcasm, Naruto kept on talking unaffected. Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah, why not? Wouldn't _that_ be a romantic and _awesome _way of apologising?!"

"Well sure, but no I'm not going to do that."

"Too bad! But when are you planning on doing it? You can't wait forever, you know."

"I don't know." He answered truthfully. "I'm working all day, and I have no way of reaching her."

"Eh! Easily fixed, I can message her through Sakura. Then all you have to do is to pray she'll listen, but I'm sure she will!"

Naruto's enthusiasm and all the nagging about the subject was really such a drag, especially at this hour, so Shikamaru instantly gave in to his proposition even if he felt truly sceptical towards it. He gave him a message to pass on, handed him the last of the dropped papers and watched him scoot off happily out the door. It was so easy to make Naruto pleased with himself, Shikamaru thought and let out a small laughter. He turned on his heal and strolled towards his tiny office, hands deep down his pockets. He let out a breath he didn't even realise he had held in, and unlocked the door to his office. He scowled at himself, he had to keep it together today. Even if the thought of maybe seeing Ino today sent shivers down his spine.

-X-

"Sensei, _why _do we have to write this assignment? It sucks."

"Because I say so, it's part of the school plan. Nothing to do about it."

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. The kids were such a drag sometimes. Although, he remembered disliking the "What is love"-assignment as well as they did. Then, thinking of it led to Ino and he immediately cut it off. She was gonna be the death of him if he kept tormenting himself like this. He sat down in his seat at the front of the classroom and watched his students frown and scowl at their still empty sheets of paper. Another hand raised into the air, and he gestured for the little girl to speak.

"But if it's in the school plan, then mustn't you have done it?" she paused as he nodded slowly. "Then can you maybe tell us about _yours,_ so we at least know what we should do?"

Shikamaru thought before answering. His assignment weren't really a prime example, but did they have to know that? Couldn't he just make something up? He finally decided on just speaking from his heart.

"Fine. Firstly, I want you to know I don't expect you to think this is _easy_, not on any level. I didn't. But what did I do? Any guess?"

"Did you give up?" a boy suggested.

"Did you ask for help?" another one said.

"No, and no. I wrote from my heart. From what I thought was the right thing. For example, what is the first thing you think of when you hear the word 'love'?"

A numerous number of answers were given, anything from a beloved family member to a nice playground activity.

"Exactly, that is what I mean. Write about what love is to _you, _write about what _you _love."

"What do _you _love then, sensei?"

He was startled by the question, and held himself back from blurting out his ex-teammates lovely name. "Me? I love myself. So nobody else has to do it for me." The answer shocked himself just as much as the students, but some of them laughed so the tension in the room was at least dissolved.

He sat back in his seat, immersed in deep thought, concentrating on the sound of pencils against paper to distract himself. The frequent thinking of Ino had made him realise something odd. He had found that he had been liking Ino for more than just a week, in fact since the day they were firstly placed in the same team. Of course, they had both known each other since birth. And even though he had never thought about her in anything more than a friendly way, he had always had a certain week spot for the blonde. He had never minded buying her stuff, such as ice cream on hot days, and they had always been there for each other, _talking _and supporting. She was his best friend, apart from Choji, but later on she had come to mean so much more. While she'd pushed him forward during training, he had taught her how to relax and watch clouds. They were so different from each other, but they still fitted in each other's company perfectly. They were like the sun and the moon, like the calm clouds and the wild winds. Matching each other's imperfections.

The sound of the bell ringing awoke him from his deep thoughts, and he breathed out as the last student left the classroom. He was free for the day, since that had been his last class. He collected his belongings lying about on the small desk and exited the room, in direction of his office. A small note lying on the floor at his door when he entered the office caught his attention. It was a simple piece of paper, with Naruto's sprawling handwriting on. The small message made his heart skip a beat, and his breath hitched in his throat.

_She agreed to meet you at the hill at 15 am. You better not be late, man! _

-X-

Shikamaru glanced at his watch eagerly, there were still 10 minutes left until they'd agreed to meet. He picked up at few straws of grass and rolled it between his fingers. He let it go and watched it fly off in the light breeze. He moved on to drumming his fingers anxiously at his knees. For the first time in his life, he had no idea what he was doing. He had no plan, no backup. If this did not went well, he had no idea anymore.

For the first time in his life, he felt nervous. He remembered feeling something just about similar to this before, when Ino had forced him to go with her to a formal dance when they were about 10. It had been just before Sasuke had appeared and become the greater part of her life, to Shikamaru's deep annoyance.

"_No, I don't want to. Leave me alone Ino, I'm trying to sleep."_

_Young Shikamaru was stretched out in the green grass of his everlasting favourite hill, and he heard his blonde friend sigh strikingly beside him. _

"_But __**please **__Shika, you know how much I've been looking forward to this, and now I have no one to go with! And you're my friend, so…" _

_Shikamaru knew that very well, it had been a vast dream of hers since long time back. He just really hated dancing. He lifted himself reluctantly from the ground and peered at her with one eye. He could see tears forming in her cerulean eyes, and he felt a slight hint of guilt. _

"_**Fine**__, I'll go there with you. I just won't dance that much and…" _

_Before he could finish the sentence she'd thrown herself at him in a massive hug, almost suffocating him. He clearly stated that as he pushed her away a short moment afterwards. But Ino was chirping, she was completely happy. _

"_Thank you Shikamaru! You're the __**best**__." She said and kissed his cheek before she hopped off down the hill. He felt a slight blush spread across his cheeks, and anxiety built up inside of him. _

_Dance. Dancing with __**Ino. **__How could he __**not**__ mess this up? _

"Shikamaru…" he snapped, looking up into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes, merely inches away from his own hazel ones. He had been so deep in thought of old memories he hadn't even noticed her approach. _Great start_, he thought to himself.

"H-hey Ino, thank you for coming here" he stuttered out, cursing inwardly for being so awkward.

"Hey Shika. You okay?" she replied softly, drifting.

"I'm… perfectly fine." He lied. "But I want to, uhm, apologise. I shouldn't have been so rude and definitely I shouldn't have just left and…" His words trailed off and he turned his eyes towards the ground. How could he ever confess his love? She must hate him.

"No, Shika, stop. It' completely my fault, alright?" Shikamaru looked slightly at her in interest, motioning for her to continue.

"Truth is, I kind off… provoked Kiba. We had a fight, and well he touched a subject too close to my heart so I touched a similar subject of his." She bit her lip slightly, not seeming very able to continue.

"But… I guess I should've not just stepped in like that either. How's the bruise by the way?"

"It's fine," she smiled at him slightly. "Sakura healed it for me."

"Hmm, yeah mine too. How's uhm, Kiba?" he felt uncomfortable moving into that subject, but he felt like he required to. To his relief, Ino looked rather lightened up.

"Oh, he's fine I guess. Finally happy I'd suppose. It's over by the way, totally_ finito_."

"What do you feel then?"

"I've never been happier. Nor have I ever been this sad." She said with a weak smile before explaining. "I'm rid of that crappy relationship, but now I'm alone with no one."

Shikamaru found no words, so he kept quiet just noticing how close their hands were to each other. In a swift move, he could change _everything. _The mere thought made him blush violently, and he turned his face away to try to hide it. It was a rather sloppy try. As he turned back to her, he noticed the tears running down her cheeks. He awkwardly laid an arm around her shoulders, dragging her closer, just like he used to back in the days. Except, now he was just extremely aware of her closeness, her warmth and her lovely flowery scent.

She turned to him, with a look in her eyes he had never seen before. It was a look of plead and desire, a look that almost stopped his heart and definitely stopped his words.

"Remember when we were younger, and we promised each other to always be honest with each other?" She started off, her voice a strained whisper. Shikamaru nodded slowly. Where was she going with this? He did not know.

Before he knew it, she had gripped his arm to pull him closer. Their faces were mere inches away from each other, and he could almost smell the salt of the small tear running down her pale face.

"What if I told you…" she paused momentarily. "…that I love you?"

"Ino," he whispered, focusing his thoughts to remain intact despite her warm breath on his lips. His mind was floating away and his heart pounded recklessly in his chest. He realised she was expecting an answer, and he tried his best to concentrate.

"I guess I would say…" he paused, looking for the right words. He struggled real hard, he wasn't exactly prepared for this. He always had the right words to say, but now the genius was completely lost for words. Ino started looking anxious, not receiving any reply, so he settled for the best of his options.

"That's just about time, Ino."

As simple as that, he closed the distance between them and they joined in a sweet and salty kiss. He was hesitant at first, and honestly quite freaked out, waiting impatiently for her to react. But her hand resting softly on his upper arm, prudently dragging him closer urged him to become more certain that this, _this_, was definitely the right thing to do.

The need of air made them stop eventually though, still having their faces exceedingly close to each other. She looked up and smiled at him with a smile that made his heart melt. That smile soon turned into a smirk though, and he raised a questioning brow at her.

"What's so funny?" he felt a slight blush creep up onto his face, and the sheer thought of it made it spread even more.

"Was that your first kiss I just experienced, Shikamaru?"

"Was it that bad?" he asked anxiously, wanting to sink through the ground out of embarrassment. It _was_ in fact his first, but he didn't want Ino to mock him for it. However, she just laughed and kissed his cheek.

"It's was magical, Shika. Everything I've ever wanted in a kiss. And receiving it from _you_, well that's just breathtakingly amazing."

Shikamaru smiled with satisfaction at her brutal honesty and laid back on the grass, pulling Ino with him. They laughed, talked, kissed and watched the clouds. He still had a hard time coming over the fact that she was now practically his. Every now and then, he would watch her watch the clouds, taking in all of her splendour. Nevertheless, the blush he'd experienced earlier crept back each time only for her to tease him about it. But he didn't really bother, because his life was now worked out.

His life was now perfect.

-X-

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**Hello! I won't be able to update for about a week now, since I'm going away over the upcoming holidays! (at least it's holidays in Sweden...)**

**I hope those of you following this story won't be too sad, and I'll update as soon as I get home! Please tell me what you think so far though, I'd love to hear your thoughts! And if anyone have any suggestions for events further on in the story, please share them with me in a PM! **

**You're all lovely, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :) **

**See you all! **


	7. The Letter

_Chapter 7: The letter_

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**Hello! I'm back, and now I'll probably update more often! **

**I've planned out the story now, and it's going to be around 11 or 12 chapters long. Opinions are always welcome, so please PM or send a review if you have anything to add or comment on in the story! **

**Enjoy!**

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The village of Konoha laid silent between the hills under the starlit sky above. His old home had changed a bit, but not much from what he remembered it from the last time he laid eyes on it before he left the village for good. At least, that's what he thought back then. Yet, here he was.

Why? He had asked himself that question too many times the last days, without receiving a proper answer. He lured himself to believe it was for the sake of his old friends, but in all honesty he hated the lot of them. But most of all, he hated Sakura. The way she'd always swarmed around him in her childhood, yet she just stood there by idly as he turned to something despicable. They said he'd turned evil, turned dark, when he just felt himself becoming more… himself.

The past didn't matter though. He was here for a reason, and that was to avenge. Avenge the deceit of his former teammates, to show them what he was capable of. Show the whole village what he was capable of, so that they would fear him instead of loath him. Yes, that seemed like a good idea.

Sasuke Uchiha smirked and proceeded towards the village, looking forward to break that pink haired brat.

-X-

"What's the handsigns for this jutsu again, sensei?"

Shikamaru sighed and showed the handsigns for the cloning jutsu once again, he believed it must've been like the thousandth by now. He yawned as he sat back onto his desk again, wishing his shift could be over soon so he could see Ino.

It had been 2 weeks since they had shared their first kiss, and they were now boyfriend and girlfriend to the whole of Konoha city. His life felt like a running river, a complete harmonic flow of happiness. Things finally went well, went as he wanted them. His had a rather well-paying job, he had the girl of his dreams and yesterday he spent his first night in his newly obtained apartment. His mother had just shook her head when he told her about Ino, smiling knowingly and muttering something about "…about time" under her breath.

The students lined up and tried out their newly learned jutsu, and Shikamaru was honestly impressed with how many succeeded at first try. Not even the brightest in his old class had managed it fully at first, with exception of one of course. Damn Uchiha, he'd always been one step behind him, but yet practically invisible to everyone until graduating. He never mentioned it to anyone, yet it had always bothered him somewhere deep inside his mind. The sound of the bell awakened him, but he barely flinched. He was getting kind of used to the ear-piercing sound by now.

"Class dismissed!" he yelled to non-listening kids running out of the clammy classroom. He was just collection his papers when a pair of slender arms appeared in front of him, and in the next moment his eyes were covered. A sweet voice whispered in his ear, making him tremble lightly.

"Guess who?"

"Uhm, I don't know, Naruto?"

Her voice was easily recognized, but he liked teasing her by playing dumb. She sighed heavily, spun him around and gave him a breathtakingly sweet kiss on the lips. He gasped as she let him go.

"Now _that _was not expected," he said, as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer. "…Naruto."

"Ugh, Shikamaru! Would you please play along in my games for just _once_?" She frowned at him, but he knew she wasn't really mad.

"But you're so cute when you're mad at me," was his lame excuse, and to that she just stuck out her tongue.

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. But anyway, are you free this afternoon?"

"No, I apparently have plans with my very own lovely Ino." She blushed violently, unable to continue for smiling like crazy. Damn, when did he become this smooth?

"Yes you do," she said in a depraved try to be serious. "In fact, you're showing me your new apartment."

Shikamaru's whole being cringed at this, he knew very well what a mess the place was. On the other hand, if he knew himself it would always be messy when he was around so what difference did it make? So he just nodded with a smug smile at her before collecting his things and accompanying her to the door.

As they left the academy he flung his arm around her waist, and the other hand in his pocket. She was babbling about something, he really had no idea what is was about, but he nodded and just concentrated on the beautiful sound of her voice. He was so into his own thoughts, as usual, that he almost forgot to turn on the way that led to his home. Wasn't _that_ just awkward? Not finding your own goddamn apartment, Shikamaru's inner voice scowled.

The fair sense of anxiety came upon him as he fiddled with his keys. It was unnecessary though, since all she did when coming in to the place was pointing at everything and telling him how neat it was.

"Oh, and you have such a pretty, and _neat _view from here! This place is amazing Shika!" She said with a wide smile, and he relaxed slightly.

"Although... It needs a bit of cleaning."

Oh damn it. Troublesome, wonderful woman.

-X-

Sakura Haruno closed the door of her apartment with a heavy sigh. She had been working at the village's hospital all day, _and night_, and she was felt dying from exhaustion. She was just about to resort to her awaiting bed, when a white blank envelope on her hallway carpet caught her attention.

She leaned down to pick it up and inspect it. It had no name on, not even her own. When she turned it around she noted that it was sloppily sealed. Curious as she was, she immediately opened it. He fingers could feel a piece of paper, but also something wet and runny. As she pulled out the note some flower petals followed it and fell down onto the floor. It was petals from a sakura tree, the tree that bore the flowers she was named after.

There was some strange looking stains on them, and as she reached out to pick them up she noticed the same stains on her own fingers as well. It took her a second or two to realise what was running down her arm as she held up the note literally drenched in blood. She screamed in panic, and could barely bring herself to read the message that was almost distinguishable on the bloody note.

_I never forget, Sakura. And I __**never **__forgive either. _

She knew all too well who that handwriting belonged to.

-X-

Ino sighed and tried her best to take in the fresh night air out on the balcony of Naruto's apartment. They had gotten here about two hours ago when Naruto called her and Shikamaru, but she was still in deep shock. Sakura had told them all about the mysterious letter, and they had all tried their very best to calm her down, yet she wouldn't stop crying.

For the moment, they had decided to leave her and Naruto alone for a while, but Ino had a hard time focusing. She was too worried about Sakura.

"What kind of a sick bastard is he…" she merely muttered, but Shikamaru who was leaning in the doorframe a bit away seemed to have heard, because he approached her slowly and put his arms protective around her.

"Stop it Ino, there's nothing you can do right now so calm down." He hugged her from behind, and she felt a bit calmer. "If not for my sake, then for your own at least."

He leaned in and kissed away the single tear running down her cheek, and she closed her eyes trying to soothe herself. She was still feeling slightly disturbed by the way Sasuke had harassed her best friend like that, she actually thought better of him. Yes, he had turned evil and bad, but it still seemed illogical that he would do such a thing to _Sakura._ She was after all his old teammate, wouldn't he have some kind of feelings left?

"But… what do you think he meant with it?"

"I don't know really. He probably just wanted to upset her, he's a douchebag and we all know that."

Ino was puzzled. She knew the good old Sasuke would never do anything like this without having any intention with it, but what about the new Sasuke? He felt foreign, she didn't know that person. She thought through what Sakura had told her. What was the blood all about? She guessed it meant he was capable of violence, and wanted to let them know. But why? They were of no threat to him, so why would he do this?

"I need to talk to her… do you think they're done in there?"

"No idea. You should go check up on them anyway." He answered and followed her inside towards the living room where Naruto and Sakura where situated. Shikamaru cleared his throat before entering, and Ino searched Sakura's face. She looked rather okay for the moment, so she spoke up.

"Sakura, can I talk to you?" she looked over to the boys and added. "In private, please."

"S-sure pig." Sakura sniffled and watched Naruto as he left the room along with Shikamaru.

"First, how are you feeling now?" Ino had taken a seat next to her best friend on the sofa.

"A bit better, I guess. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"The letter." Sakura flinched slightly, but Ino continued. "Don't you think it meant something?"

"Yes, I've been thinking about that too actually… just didn't want to talk to Naruto about it, you know." She smiled weakly, and Ino smiled back sympathetically. "But I just can't seem to understand it, though."

"Well, I've been thinking it has something to do with violence, and specifically showing _us _that he's violent. But why would he be violent towards you, forehead? Have you two every really argued?"

She watched Sakura think for a moment, as if she was searching her mind for _something _that could help them understand the situation. Then, suddenly, she gasped.

"Oh, now I remember!" she said, her expression turning sadder as she started telling Ino. "On… the day he left Konoha for good, the last day I saw him… he said something to me. And those words have just… kind of been etched into my soul ever since, I can't really seem to forget them even after how much I've tried."

She paused, taking a sip from the half full glass of water standing on the coffee table in front of them.

"He said… '_Sakura, I really expected more of you. After all this time, you turn your back on me? You're __**just **__like everyone else. Dull, weak, easy to manipulate. And that's why I find you… rather worthless. I hope I never have to see your disappointing face anymore.'_"

As she finished, Ino noticed a tear forming in the corner of her friend's eye. Before she could say or do something, Sakura spoke again.

"I never really understood that, I was like "but I'm protecting my friends from _you_, how would that make me dull or weak?" But I never got an answer to that question, until now. I think that what he meant with that letter… is maybe that he's back, and I still haven't improved in his eyes? I honestly don't know really, I'm just rambling here…"

"Well, if that's his opinion then he can just go fuck himself right away." Sakura flinched slightly at Ino's harsh words, but she didn't care. "Honestly, forehead, look at what you've accomplished! You're the best medic in this village, you have Naruto and everything… oh how I hate him!"

"Who?"

"Sasuke of course! He can't just come in here after all these years and ruin our great lives! _Your _life, Sakura! We have to stop him before he does something radical!"

"No, Ino, calm down." Sakura snapped. "You almost sound like _you're _the one who's going to do something radical now, and I don't want you to. You could get hurt! And in that case I'd never forgive myself!"

"Well, maybe… that is just what it takes. But for now, you're right. We'll wait and see okay?"

"Yeah sure… but please let me know if you plan on doing something, okay?"

"Of course Sakura." she said. "But I don't think we should tell, uhm, the boys about this should we?"

"No… probably not. Not yet, at least. Only if it gets worse."

Ino nodded in agreement. She just wished she could feel as brave as she sounded.

-X-


	8. A Very Stupid Decision

_Chapter 8: A very stupid decision_

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**WARNING: This chapter contains pretty strong violence. **

* * *

2 weeks had gone by now, and you could pretty much say the situation was out of hand. Sakura had left her apartment a few days ago, she couldn't bear the letters constantly overflowing her letterbox. Ino visited her frequently, at Naruto's apartment of course, and she always arrived home still so clueless. It wasn't nice to see her like this, this crap affected and stressed more than just one person.

Shikamaru frowned and finished off his paperwork. He felt like working was almost all he did nowadays, he had to cut down on it someday. Of course, he spent lots of time with Ino as well, but it wasn't as calming and relaxing as usual since Sasuke started harassing Sakura. Also, he felt worried that Ino would do something… troublesome. She had said so many times that she'd never ever let anyone hurt her friends or loved ones, but now Shikamaru feared that she was actually being serious in her statement. He hoped not.

Later on, he found himself standing in front of his apartment door and not really knowing when or how he got there. He had too much on his mind, he just needed to rest a little. Hopefully Ino would be home…

The apartment looked exactly the same as it did when he left it this morning, but it felt like something important was missing. Something felt wrong, very wrong. He proceeded to walk into the kitchen, where he found nothing but the usual. Weird. Troublesome.

When he had checked the entire place but one room, he was growing impatient. He strode towards the bedroom, not sure of what he was expecting.

The room was impeccably clean, Ino had even made the bed this morning. But on top of the neatly folded sheets laid something that wasn't supposed to be there. It was a flower, a purple lily, along with a letter. He picked up the white envelope with his name written on, fearing all the worst.

_My dearest Shikamaru,_

_I'm sorry for this. But I have no choice than to find Sasuke and persuade him to stop. It might be a stupid thing to do, I realise it now… But I have to. For Sakura. For you. _

_For all I know, I might as well never… Anyway, I just want to say that I love you Shika. More than anything. Never forget that, and I hope I'll be around at least a while longer to see your beautiful smile. _

_Yours always, Ino._

Shikamaru stood still, completely dumbfounded by this message. Was this the end? Was she being serious? The realisation came upon him, and for the first time in years he could feel tears threatening to fall. No, no way, this couldn't be happening! He had just gotten her in his life, and now he was losing her?

No, he wasn't about to let that happen. If he so had to look for her all night and day, he would. More determined than he ever had been before, Shikamaru marched out of the apartment. He slipped the letter in his pocket and grabbed his phone before rushing out.

He had no idea where to start looking. He guessed he must try to actually find _Sasuke _in order to find Ino, since he was the one she was hunting down. He didn't feel too happy about having to face his old classmate, but it had to be done.

Oh Ino, why did you do this? You troublesome woman…

-X-

The phone laying on the bedside table buzzed and started singing a happy little tune and Naruto threw himself over it. He knew immediately who it was, but still felt polite enough to ask.

"Hello? Who is it?"

"Shikamaru. We have a serious problem."

Judging by the tone of his voice, he knew he was clearly speaking the truth. A million scenarios played through the blonde's head and he almost didn't dare to ask.

"What happened?"

At least he could feel safe knowing his Sakura was sleeping soundly right next to him.

"Ino took off to find Sasuke. This is bad, who knows what he might do? I'm searching right now, but you should inform Sakura about it. And… please just help me find her unharmed."

Naruto could hear how strained his voice was, probably trying his best to keep it together. He understood completely, he had felt practically the same about his own precious girlfriend the past few days.

"Of course. We'll be right behind you, pal."

"Thank you…"

He heard a clicking sound as Shikamaru hung up on the other line, and quickly woke up Sakura. She was startled by the information and looked as she was about to cry again, but Naruto persuaded her not to.

"We have to find her, before something happens Sakura. Come on, hurry." He said, not even caring if he sounded stressed anymore. "We should call the police as well." Luckily for everyone involved she comprehended fast and hurriedly got dressed, and called on the way out of the door. Naruto armed himself rather poorly with an old bat before they both ran off.

"So, where do you think she'll be? Any clues?"

"Well, since she's searching for Sasuke… she should be somewhere he would most likely be." Sakura said thoughtfully. "So, where do we suppose Sasuke would be?"

"Hmm… What about one of the training grounds?" Naruto suggested.

"Well, we just have go see for ourselves. But I do think it sounds possible."

They had no other option, Naruto thought to himself. He had a bad feeling about this. Halfway there, they ran into Shikamaru who seemed to have the same idea as them. He gave Naruto a quick look of gratitude before taking his bat away from him and running off again. Naruto and Sakura followed, they were rather close now.

An ear-piercing scream cut through the silent evening. It was a rather nice and warm weather, but the scream sent chills through their spines.

"Ino…" Shikamaru ran towards the direction of the scream, not caring to wait up. This meant trouble, big trouble.

-X-

"You sick bastard! Let me go! What are you even doing here, harassing your old _friend _like that?"

"She is not my friend." The answer came out too quickly, and Ino became unsure. What?

"Thought you out of all persons would understand such a thing. Thought you were supposed have brains." He chuckled coldly. "But what should I expect? After all, you were dumb enough to come find me."

Enough, she could not take the raining insults anymore. Yet, every word she tried out in her mind felt wrong. They all had a bitter taste.

"So it's dumb to stand up for your friends? It's dumb to protect your loved ones?" she decided on insulting him back, even though somewhere deep inside of her a little voice screamed that it was a _very _bad choice. "Still, what would _you_ know about such things? You traitor."

"Oh, so blondie is mocking me now?" He dropped the cold smile and looked her dead in the eyes. His grip on her arm hardened, and she just _knew _she should've kept her mouth shut. "_You, _don't know anything about me. And don't act like you do, because that would be…" he seemed to be choosing his words very wisely. "… extremely unwise of you."

She didn't say anything this time, she stood frozen. His sudden change of face expressions had scared her to say the least, and all her bravery was blown away.

"You're _just_ like the others, you know that? Just like pathetic little Sakura…" he spoke her name with disgust. Ino backed away, but the merciless hand on her arm prevented her from backing away further.

"All of you acted like you _loved _me, like you cared for me. But in the terms of some real life crisis, you would all turn your backs on me. _All of you. _You're such frauds, the lot of you, and I hate you."

He turned his look towards the ground, and Ino gathered up her courage to say something.

"Then you shouldn't have turned evil. We would've been here for you, unless you had tried to kill those villagers! You brought this on yourself." She finished the last sentence with a shaky sigh, she was on the verge of breaking down but she could not right now. She had to focus, stay brave and stand tall against him. For Sakura. For Shikamaru…

As he still wouldn't speak, she continued.

"Would it really be worth it? Killing your old friends just because of old grudges?"

He turned his gaze towards her again, and every bone in her tiny body froze by his look. He had so much hatred in his dark eyes, she felt like he could see right through her. Fear overcame her, as he laughed genuinely, terrifyingly.

"It will be my dearest pleasure."

He let her go for a second to fetch something in his pocket. She backed away hurriedly, but not fast enough.

"Just a shame I have to take you down first. But oh well, guess you should feel honoured. Finally winning against Sakura over me, huh?"

The blade in his hand gleamed greedily, but it was nothing compared to the look on her former classmate's face as he approached her in a slow, but steady pace.

She screamed again, yelling at the top of her lungs, wishing someone, _anyone_, could hear her. She tried to run but stumbled over the roots of a nearby tree. As she struggled to get herself up, he was getting closer and closer.

When she finally managed, he was way too close and swung the knife towards her. She tried to duck, but an excruciating pain in her left arm alarmed her that he had been too close. She held her hand on the rapidly bleeding wound and ran. She could not see where, she just ran, and kept screaming.

She could see the lights of the village, which was getting darker as time drew on, and ran towards it. She could hear Sasuke coming from behind, he had stopped walking now. She was a rather fast runner, but he was a tad faster. She was easy prey.

"Somebody help me, please!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and when she heard voices approaching she almost thought she was dreaming. Though, she was not dreaming as she heard her name being shouted. She was saved! Alas, Sasuke was still after her, so she kept on running even though her legs were numbing.

"Help me!"

-X-

First, he heard her voice calling out for help. Then he saw her running, a blur of long blonde hair and purple clothes. Thirdly, he saw what he had feared this whole time. Sasuke Uchiha, who was leaping right behind Ino with a knife. Damn it, this just had to get ugly. When had he lost his grip this much? It was unbelievable.

"Sakura, call the police over here. Now."

"What are we supposed to do?!" Naruto asked, or more correct, yelled.

"We improvise." Was Shikamaru's answer, as he grabbed the bat and held it up as if to swing it for a ball. Except this strike was meant for the lunatic Uchiha who was running after _his _Ino.

"Arm yourself with something Naruto. He will unlikely go easy on us."

Naruto looked around and grabbed a large wooden stick which looked rather heavy.

"That'll do. Now your job is simple. I want you to knock him out the best you can, and then get Ino to somewhere safe. I'll handle it from there."

"A-are you sure?" Naruto's voice was shaky and unstable.

"Definitely." He cleared his throat. "Positive."

He tightened his grip on the bat. He would make sure that this battle would be much less troublesome than his last one. He would not go out losing in this one.

He just had to win.

-X-


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 9: My dearest Shikamaru_

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**_Also._.. contains violence. Well, at least more pleasant, "cute", chapters are coming up, even though we're not far from the end now!**

**Please read, enjoy and review! **

**Also, of course I don't own Naruto.**

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Pow! Boom! Crash!

"Run Ino! Come with me!"

Shikamaru heard a grunt from the ground and frowned. He couldn't possibly be still trying? Naruto's blow with the branch should've knocked Sasuke out, this plan seemed to be falling already.

"Hurry up and run Naruto! Don't stay behind!" He ordered, ignoring Ino's pained sounds.

In the meantime, Sasuke had managed to stand up. Though he looked a bit woozy from the blow, he didn't seemed to care. Shikamaru spotted the blade in his hand and slowly backed away.

"Sasuke, don't do this. You can do so much better than this, I know it." He got no reply. "I don't want to harm you, so stop trying to harm us."

"It's already done." He finally said, with a murky smile. "The _harm_ is already made, so what's the point of just continuously standing idly by? You're just a lazy coward Shikamaru, admit it."

"I might be lazy, but the only coward I see here is standing right in front of me."

"I had to leave. After what I did… I couldn't stay." Shikamaru was puzzled. Was Sasuke actually about to regret his deeds? "Also… I couldn't stand any of you, when you couldn't stand me."

He paused for a laughter. The sound of it froze the blood in Shikamaru's veins.

"That's why I'm here, you see? I'm already wanted everywhere, so what does it matter anymore? Can't I at least get some peace before they catch me?"

Shikamaru was unsure if Sasuke was as a matter of fact showing up a rather vulnerable side of himself, or if these were simply the words of a true maniac. It did sound like it came straight from his heart, however, the knife glimmering in his hand wasn't exactly proving his point. He really wanted to solve this in a non-violent way, but he wasn't quite sure he would be able to. He gripped the bat harder.

"But why, Sasuke? Why would you even get yourself into this mess in the first place?"

"You would never understand. I _had to._ I had no choice." He slowly raised his knife, and Shikamaru followed his every move.

"Don't do this…" he warned, sounding more confident than he felt. His words had no particular effect though, since Sasuke had started walking towards him again. In the blink of an eye, he suddenly made a lunge towards him, and Shikamaru swung the bat towards his arm that held his knife. He hit poorly though, so the hit had an effect second to none.

Sasuke did not stop to rest, of course, and performed another attack towards him. This time, Shikamaru was a tad slower and felt the blade grace his right wrist. It wasn't much, but adequate to make him lose focus slightly. He had to be faster than this!

He focused his eyes on Sasuke, coming towards him again, and tried to think of a place he could hit. He did not wanted to kill him, and avoiding important internal organs was also a good thing to think of. He decided on going for his arm again, since a broken arm heals better than a broken skull or something.

This time, he managed to strike exactly where he wanted, and it was a success. Sasuke fell onto the ground, not screaming or anything, but clutching his arm really tight.

"I will get you for this, Shikamaru Nara…" he snarled between his teeth.

Shikamaru was already planning out the next step, when he heard a very welcoming sound of sirens. The cops were here, _finally_. He sighed in relief, thinking this was it. What he did not expect though, was the last remaining powers of Sasuke Uchiha who just broke through his upper leg with all its power.

He had somehow managed to throw the knife directly at his leg, and the sudden stream of blood flooding down his leg told Shikamaru that this was _really_ bad. Sasuke had hit the femoral artery.

-X-

"Shikamaru, where's Shikamaru?! Is he okay? What is happening?"

Ino was rambling frantically, and Naruto pushed her down on the outdoor bench again. They were located just outside the village hospital, since Ino hadn't had the strength of going all the way.

"For the last time Ino, _calm down._ Chill. Shikamaru will be fine, I know he will. Stop worrying so much, worry about yourself. We have to go get help, your arm's bleeding like crazy."

She actually calmed down a bit at this, even though Naruto himself felt more stressed than ever. He actually had no idea if Shikamaru was going to make it or not and that scared him. Also, the thought of Sakura running around in town by herself was also terrifying, especially if Shikamaru couldn't handle Sasuke...

He helped her stand up again, and they stumbled the last few steps towards the porch. While inside, they sure scared the breath out of several nurses when he yelled at some to help her. As freaked out as they might've been though, they saw her wound and immediately took her with them.

Naruto couldn't feel quite relaxed though, not with the knowledge of his girlfriend and one of his best friends being out there unprotected. He left his number to one of the nurses at the reception and told them to call if anything happened, and then strode out in the night.

He didn't come far though, since he unexpectedly spotted Sakura running towards him. Was this a good sign?

"Sakura!" he said and embraced her. "What is happening? How is Shikamaru doing?"

"The police is there now…" she started off, with a slightly anomalous expression on her face. "We came just in time, a moment later and Sasuke would've killed him…"

She stuttered and struggled to collect herself. But Naruto still felt a bit dissatisfied with the answer.

"But how's Shikamaru? Is he gonna make it? What happened Sakura, tell me!" after some time he added "And what about Sasuke? Did they get him?"

"I didn't hear all details okay, but from what I could sneak out Shikamaru broke Sasuke's arm so that they were able to catch him. Unfortunately for Shikamaru though… Sasuke managed to stab him in the leg. It's a pretty bad injury and he's on his way here now."

"Good, good…" He said, mostly to himself. He felt worried, Sakura almost never exaggerated so when she said _pretty bad _he wondered _how _bad it could be. They started walking towards the hospital again.

"Oh and by the way, where's Ino?" she asked with a concerned look.

"She's being taken care off in the hospital at the moment, she'll probably be just fine. It was just a scratch in the arm, basically."

"Good, I was getting worried." Naruto dragged her closer to his body, trying to comfort her. He was never really good with words, he thought, but somehow she always seemed to be calmer by his manners. That comforted him as well, when he could feel her relaxing slightly.

-X-

"He's losing a lot of blood…"

"We can't let him go, keep the pressure on the wound."

Ino heard voices from outside the corridor, and felt curious enough to peep over the edge of her hospital bed out of the slightly opened door. She couldn't see much, but she could detect two nurses and a doctor carrying someone on a stretcher. She froze when she recognized the pineapple-ponytailed man lying on it.

"Shikamaru…" she whispered, her words barely coherent. She sat up, ignoring the dizziness rushing to her head. She had had her arm bandaged and received some painkillers to numb the ache, but for now she felt rather fine. And especially when Shikamaru was here, and by the sound of it, badly wounded.

Despite her strict restrictions to stay in the bed, she pushed herself down onto the floor and stumbled out in the hospital corridor, following the sound of the worried nurses carrying Shikamaru.

When she finally caught up with their speed, they were heading into the nearest operation room. She grabbed one of the nurses and dragged her away as there were others inside who took over. The startled nurse glared disapprovingly at her, but she overlooked it.

"What happened, will he be okay? Please tell me, I _need _to know!"

"Calm down young miss" From what I remember, shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"No! Just please answer me, that's all I care about! When you've told me I'll go back." She acted like a stubborn child, but she would not just let it go. The nurse, who was according to her shirt called Rozu, pursed her lips still looking rather displeased. But at least she answered at last.

"He's apparently stabbed in the upper left leg, and since the weapon used hit the femoral artery he is losing a lot of blood. Since you seem to have a close relation with him, could you maybe tell us what blood type he's in? It would save us a lot of time."

Ino tried to think while comprehending what she had just been told. It wasn't easy, but she managed to categorize the horrific news somewhere she could reach them later on. Right now she had to think. Hadn't he told her? She had a vague memory of some conversation they had had some time ago, long before they were even together. Was it AB? Come on Ino, you can't just take a chance on this!

After thinking in what felt like hours, which was actually barely minutes, she felt sure enough to answer. She prayed she wouldn't do a mistake.

"It's AB."

"Thank you. Now go to bed, I promise we'll do our best to save him." Ino could see a hint of compassion in the older woman's eyes before she went into the operation room.

When heading back to her room, as she actually _had _promised, rounding the corner she bumped into someone with full power, making her arm ache slightly.

"Oups, sorry!" she recognized the dopey voice and frowned slightly. "Hey, Ino… is that you? You look… terrible to be honest."

"Why thank you very much, Kiba." She snapped and was about to start walking again when he grabbed her unharmed arm.

"Wait, I didn't mean it like that. I heard what happened, and came to uhm… see how you were doing."

Ino looked hesitantly at him. "And…" he added. "I also sort of came here to apologize."

This made Ino react. Was he really telling the truth? Well, it sure did look like it and Kiba wasn't a guy known for lying. And by the way, what could it hurt just talking a bit with him?

"Sure." She replied slowly. "How about we go buy some bad hospital coffee and… just talk?"

"Sounds good." He agreed, and they went off to the cafeteria.

While there, he bought her and himself a cup of plain coffee in which she added milk and sugar. She never really was one for coffee, but strangely they didn't serve tea at this hour. They fetched their cups and sat down at a far end table, where they could be undisturbed.

"So…" he started off, looking rather unsure. "I just wanna say… I'm really sorry Ino, for everything. I was a jerk to you, and it's a shame Shikamaru didn't beat me up more than he did. I would've deserved it. And I'm sorry about that too, I should go talk to him later… Anyway, I relay regret what I did, and I'm not expecting you to forgive me but I was hoping we could go back to being… just the good friends we used to be."

After his little speech he paused, taking a sip of his coffee and waited for a reply. Ino collected her thoughts and cleared her throat before she replied.

"I'm sorry too Kiba. I'm sorry that it had to come to such a critical point, but I'm glad you're apologizing. So, I'm accepting it as well as your offer to be friends again."

"I'd love that." She added, after some thought.

Kiba shone up and smiled. "Really? Oh man, Ino that's great! How's uhm, your arm by the way?" he gestured towards the bandage.

"Oh, it's fine really. I'm just still a little… shocked still, I guess, but I'll be fine."

"What about Shikamaru?" She turned her eyes to the floor when answering. She really didn't want to torment herself with these thoughts right now, but she needed to.

"They're taking care of him right now. He got a stab in his thigh, making him lose a lot of blood. But I think… hope he'll be fine."

Kiba laid a comforting hand on her right shoulder, and smiled reassuringly. Strangely, it didn't feel awkward or even uncomfortable. It just felt nice, having a friend there.

"If I know him right, which I hope I still do… He'll make it, you see. He's strong."

Ino just nodded, letting his reassuring words wrap her mind in like a comforting blanket. She studied her ex and newly found old friend and noticed the wrinkles of worry and frustration he always bore in his forehead were faded. Even in the shabby light of the hospital lamps she could see a clear change. Hmm?

"So, how's your life going?" she asked spontaneously, or at least trying to sound like it, hoping he wouldn't notice her eager to hear the latest Konoha gossip. She never really told anyone else what she caught up, she just loved hearing it herself. Especially romance stories, those were the best and most precious.

"Well… a lot better than before." He said, and Ino noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. Not this could be worth investigating!

"Oh really? That makes me glad! Anything special happened?" She coaxed.

"Well, uhm, yeah I guess so." He stumbled. Ino tried her best not to smirk.

"And _what _happened then? Come on, you can tell me!"

"I guess, I am uhm, sort of, dating… with, uhm, well, with Hi-Hinata." He managed to get out, blushing violently and turning his look to anything but Ino. Ino smiled both inwardly and outwardly, this was what she had hoped for all along.

"Isn't that amazing? I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed. He smiled awkwardly and drank the last of his coffee.

"Thank you. And I'm happy for you too Ino, you and Shikamaru make a good couple indeed."

She smiled as thank and politely enough drank her last coffee as well. She was glad there was peace between her and Kiba, and that life seemed to be going well at all parts but one.

That part was the dearest, and she prayed it would remain.

_My dearest Shikamaru…_

-X-


	10. My Dearest Shikamaru

_Chapter 10: Long lost_

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**Sorry for not updating in a while, in all honesty I had trouble figuring out the ending of this story. But here it is, chapter 10! Enjoy and R&R :)**

**Also, I advice sensitive Sasuke-lovers to be careful reading this. **

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The light breaking through the half-open curtains was annoying him. As well as the monitor beeping right next to his bed, and all of the tangled wires laying on him connecting him to it and various other objects close to the hospital bed. He felt trapped, and this particularly annoyed him. As he finally opened his eyes fully he gazed over the room. It was a plain, boring room with nothing fun to watch. Someone had tried to enhance it by hanging up an extremely ugly painting, and the small window was decorated with a small, good for nothing lamp. Next to him was a small table and a chair, and on that he finally found something appealing.

The little table was cluttered with framed pictures and vases full of fresh flowers. There were lilies, tulips, jasmines and a few others he did not remember the names of, in all different colours. The photos were of himself, Ino, Choji and even Asuma. The first one was their old team 10 photo, another one was of the three of them when they were little. Another was just him and Asuma, and the last one was himself and Ino. The last one wasn't old, he recognized it as a picture he had taken himself last week when they were out on a date. He had loved that day, it was a beautiful memory and he smiled thinking back to it.

Something came to his mind along with his last thoughts. Last week… how long ago as that? Had it really been last week? For how long had he been down? He could not tell.

He sat up and looked around the room for any form of communication with the outer world. He found a red button next to his bed which he pressed. He didn't give much thought that there was a sign that read "emergency" above it, he just wanted to see _someone._

In short moments a nurse arrived, looking a bit stressed. When she saw he was alright she lit up slightly, giving him a warm smile and greeted him a welcome back. A tiny sign on her shirt informed him that she went under the name Rozu.

"Hello Mr Nara, how are you feeling?"

"Good, just fine uhm… how long have I been… gone?"

"Just a day. Do you feel well enough to greet some visitors?"

"Depends on the visitors." He groaned slightly, if it was anyone… _jumpy, _like Naruto, he would definitely not want to meet them.

"There's a Yamanaka, Ino; Haruno, Sakura and Uzumaki, Naruto just out the door."

"Just… Ino, please."

"As you wish." She scribbled something down in her writing pad before leaving the room. Shikamaru closed his eyes while waiting, it was too much of a drag not to. Just before he started dozing off, light footsteps urged him to open his eyelids. He was faced with a gorgeous sight.

There she was standing, Ino his girlfriend. Her long blonde hair was let out and glowed like gold in the sunlight. She was wearing a simple purple tank top with shorts, exposing much of her beautiful, fair skin. She smiled when she saw he had opened his eyes, and without warning she threw herself right at him. Even for a man known to always lie three steps ahead, this surprised him. He laughed into her warm embrace an immediately regretted it due to the mouthful of blonde hair he received.

"Oh, Shika you're awake! I was so worried that you'd never… never…" she sniffled and looked away, but he turned her face back.

"I love you Ino." He simply said, feeling relieved of finally getting to say it. She smiled and blushed, making her even more adorable.

"I love you too Shika." She whispered and he gave her a kiss. It was a long lost one, for at the touch of her lips against his he realised how much he had missed this. The last days had been a hassle, as well as the fact that he'd been passed out for some time.

He held her close, feeling perfectly fine for the first time in years. Sure, he felt great being together with Ino in the first place, but this was something special. The past few weeks had been rather stressed, but in this moment he felt at ease. He sighed peacefully, closing his eyes and just enjoying her closeness.

"How is everyone, by the way?" He asked suddenly, only opening his eyes to his next question. "How are _you,_ Ino?"

She sat up slightly next to him on the bed, and he watched her carefully. He noticed the bandage on her left arm and gestured to it. But she smiled and shrugged it off.

"Oh, this?" she held out the arm. "It's nothing really, it was just a scratch except I bled lots"

She made a grossed out face before she continued. Shikamaru knew she had a hard time standing large amounts of blood, especially her own. "And considering the others, they're just fine. Tired, I would guess, but fine."

Shikamaru took a deep breath before asking what he had dreaded to do. "And what about Sasuke?"

"He's in jail, practically. He's having a trial tomorrow morning, and we should all come and witness."

Shikamaru nodded in agreement. He wasn't too keen on once again meeting the man who almost got him killed, but on the other hand his testimony could mean much to the investigation. He took hold of Ino's hands and smiled encouraging to her. She didn't look very keen on it either.

"It'll be fine, you see." Was his words of comfort before hugging her again, already missing her warmth. He felt like he could stay that way forever. Unfortunately, a nurse announced too soon that the visitors' hour was over. They both protested, nevertheless without success.

Ino collected her things and gave Shikamaru a last kiss and a whispered promise to sneak back in later and keep him company in the night. He kept smiling, even after she left. She sure was his troublesome little sunshine.

-X-

After spending a night at the hospital, sharing a small hospital bed with Shikamaru, Ino stretched out painfully. But all the back hurt was worth it, every moment she spent with Shika was precious. Even more now, after everything that happened.

It was 9 am, and the trial was in one hour. She yawned and adjusted her skirt before exiting the bedroom. Shikamaru was waiting out in the living room, claiming the sofa fully with his injured leg flung up over the armrest. He was rather fancy, formally clothes as well as she was, wearing a simple suit with a black tie. Ino herself was wearing a tight black skirt with a lavender blouse. Her hair was in her usual ponytail, and she brushed her bangs away while approaching him.

He smiled when noticing her, and was about to by old habit drag her down in the sofa with him but she stopped him just in time with a meaning look at their clothes. It hurt not being able to do that right now, Ino admitted to herself. She couldn't wait to get this trial over with and continue on with their normal lives.

"Later, Shikamaru." She explained and half sat half leaned on the other armrest. "We need to get going, it's just an hour left. And you're not really… fast, right now."

She felt sympathy with her slightly crippled boyfriend who used crutches at the moment to support his wounded leg that were healing slowly. But nonetheless, he kept on fighting to stay up and that made Ino more proud than anything else in this world.

The usual ten minute walk to the courthouse took nearly 20 minutes today, considering Shikamaru's state. Ino glanced at her watch and mentally thanked herself for leaving home as early as they did. The time was 10:50am and the trial was just about to begin.

As leading witnesses they had reserved seats in the front of the grand hall. As they claimed their seats, Ino caught a glimpse of Sasuke in the other end of the hall. She swallowed the lump of discomfort that built up the moment she entered the room, and scooted closer to Shikamaru. At least he wasn't looking at her for the moment, which she was thankful for.

First up of the witnesses was Sakura, who told them about the letters and also mentioned some past history when she was asked to. She looked completely calm, and Ino secretly envied her. Next up was Naruto, whose story was rather short since he had not much to add to the previous one. He mentioned having to fight off Sasuke along with Shikamaru, and then bringing Ino to the hospital. She felt discomfort as some of the audience's gazes were turned on her as he mentioned her full name.

"Next up, Yamanaka, Ino!"

She shook slightly when she rose up, reluctantly letting go of Shikamaru's comforting hand. As she stood up in front of the audience, she felt dizziness rushing to her head from the room's full attention being on her. She shrugged it off, completely ignoring every look and especially the onyx one from the corner.

"I, Ino Yamanaka, am here to day to bring forth my testimony against Sasuke Uchiha." She took a shaky breath before continuing.

She told them about the harassing letters, and how she went out to find him and how she eventually did. How he had told her all of his evil intentions and then attempted to kill her, only to slash her arm and chase her down to the village. Of course, ignoring his hateful gaze.

About an hour later, it was done and final. He had received his judgement and they could finally leave. As Ino accompanied Shikamaru towards the door, there was a sudden scream heard from the door. Along with this came commotion, and people ran everywhere. She was just about to ask someone what was happening when another scream gave her the answer.

"He's on the loose! Uchiha is on the loose!"

"Shit," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, dragging Ino with him towards the door. "We have to get out of here."

They slowly edged through the crowd towards the doors which had flung open. When they spotted a clearing in the mass they sprinted towards it. Ino crashed into Naruto who was blocking the way, and she fell back on the floor. Her head felt strangely dense and her eyes heavy as she looked up to the scene before her.

Sasuke was standing in the middle of the street, holding a gun he had most probably snatched from one of the cops. He was surrounded, but he still had the upper hand by the fact he was holding a horrified Sakura by the arm. Everyone who tried to get closer he threatened to shoot.

"If any of you come any closer, I'll kill her." He said in a low, calm voice.

As the commotion inside the building finally appeased, the place turned dauntingly quiet. Everyone was watching, waiting. Ino was still sitting on the floor, watching the whole scene with two pairs of legs in front of her.

Sasuke had dropped Sakura down on the ground, and was saying something to her. Ino couldn't hear what it was, but she assumed he was answering something she had said. Then suddenly he spoke up loudly, backing away further, leaving Sakura on the ground.

"You'll never get me. And you're not worth my efforts anyway." He raised the gun towards his head, and the situation swiftly turned from bad to worse.

The cops tried to pursue him to drop the gun, but continued walking backwards in a slow pace. Ino, who had finally found the strength to stand up, clenched to Shikamaru's arm not being very sure if she dared to watch anymore.

"This is the last you see of me," he raised the gun further. "You will never…"

He, nor anyone else, saw or heard the truck coming at full speed towards him. Nobody did. Until it was too late. In a matter of seconds, he was gone, nothing. Dead silence embraced them when nobody could really comprehend what they had just watched. The brutal death of Sasuke Uchiha.

-X-

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**And yes... there will be a few more chapters, it's not gonna end here! Just stay updated dear readers! :)**


	11. Unpredictable

_Chapter 11: Unpredictable_

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**Final chapter...! Hope you enjoy please R&R! **

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"At least he died rather… Instant."

The room was silent and still, since nobody really knew what to say. Shikamaru looked at Naruto who had just spoken, and silently grieved with him. He knew the death of Sasuke was a hard blow for him, especially since they had been best friends a long time ago. Before he turned bad, turned into something they despised and feared. He gawkily put a hand on his shoulder, showing his support.

They were all gathered as some sort of a preview to the funeral. Since the now 12 members of their old companionship were his only "relatives", they were all asked to arrange his last event before the burial. There was a tense atmosphere in the room since nobody knew whether they should be relieved or grieving.

"Well, I think we should keep it pretty simple at least. I think that would be what he wished for." Sakura said in a low tone which was followed by humming agreeing sounds.

As Sakura had suggested, they decided on keeping it simple with barely no flowers. There was no coffin, since they couldn't find any other remains than his clothes. They decided on decorating and using a box instead.

Shikamaru could sense Ino's disappointment, she had agreed on arranging the bouquets and he knew how much she loved doing such things. When they were done, Shikamaru made sure to leave early. He just wanted to get away from all of that. Also, he felt it rather important to take away Ino from all of that.

They walked up to his hill, or well _their _hill. As they sat down in the grass, he wrapped an arm around her tiny body to drag her closer. She remained silent and leaned her head on his shoulder. He cleared his throat, wanting to say something but unsure of what. He was afraid he'd say something wrong and then she'd hate him. In all honesty, he was lost for words.

"I… I know Sasuke meant a lot to you, and…" he started off, almost cringing at his own words. "And, I… well I know that, and I just… uhm, I just wanted to let you know that I…"

She sat up and softly hushed him to be quiet, then pecked him on the lips. She gave him a weak smile, which he had no idea how to interpret. He tried to speak again, but was shut quiet by yet another kiss and a whisper.

"Shh, I know." She smiled again, convincing him. He took her hand in his and kissed it.

"I just don't want you to be broken down by sadness, okay? I love you Ino." He felt both good and weird at the same time for saying this, as always. He didn't really enjoy expressing his feelings into words, but it felt good letting her know because then she'd be happier. And nevertheless, he gained a brighter smile.

"I love you too." She said, muffled by his hug.

Then they endured silence, just holding each other knowing they both needed it to ever be able to bear the day tomorrow. The last farewells of Sasuke Uchiha. Shikamaru honestly didn't even knew how to cope with it himself.

-X-

The sky was grey, and the people were all in black. The event was dismal and the flowers were white and pale blue. One of their old teachers, Iruka Sensei, had volunteered to hold the ceremony, even though it was rather complex to bury someone whose body was gone. The ripped and broken clothes of Sasuke were laying neatly folded in a paper box covered with flowers at the front of the church. Many people cried, but nobody said anything. Ino saw Naruto awkwardly handing yet another napkin to a weeping Sakura. She felt a silent tear rolling down her cheek, but that was it. The sorrow inside of her though, was ripping holes in her. She gripped Shikamaru's hand tightly and turned her gaze to the floor.

"All of us in here knew Sasuke Uchiha. And we can surely say, we _knew _him. We knew what he liked and disliked, his fears. His favourite food, hobby and his friends. In a way, we may have known him even better than he did. And that is why we are gathered here today. Because if you _know _a person, then it doesn't matter what stupid and reckless things they may do. Because we know them, we know their true side. And we'll be here for them, no matter what, until the very end."

A loud sniffle was heard at Iruka's words, as an unknown man stepped in and approached the piano standing practically hidden in the far end of the room. Nobody really asked about him, as they watched him exchange a few words with a very astounded Iruka. Ino looked around the room, and was met with nothing but confused looks. Nobody seemed to know this mystic man, who sat down at the piano and started playing a classical tune which Ino recognized as Sasuke's favourite. She was amazed and startled, was this for real?

The crown watched the man playing in awe, secretly not ever wanting the music to end. It was a beautiful tune, floating on softly like an indulgent river. The confusion and amazement in the room was almost visible as the man closed up the distance to the end of the song. When he hit the final key on the piano, the room turned awfully quiet. You could almost hear a pin needle fall and hit the floor, it was that quiet. The man rose from his seat, picked out a crumpled green flower and laid it on the flowery box before bowing and exiting the building without a word. Ino froze, of course she knew exactly what a green flower meant. Prosperity, luck and new life. _New life._ That wasn't something traditional for a funeral, right? This was getting suspicious.

Nobody else seemed to question the strange man's actions, even though everyone seemed a bit shocked still. With some finishing words, there was allowance to take a last farewell and leave a flower. Ino put hers with care just on top of the lid of the box, taking a special farewell to her long lost school crush. She had no such feelings for him still, but it still felt weird for it to end like this. And then again, what was it with that strange man just appearing out of nowhere on Sasuke's funeral and playing his old favourite tune?

When done, they followed out as the box was carried out. They watched the burial, and Ino felt as if her tears had run out. She felt sorrow, but felt it unnecessary to cry even more. It was worthier not to.

Afterwards, they all gathered in front of the church, chatting, trying to shake off all terrible events lately. Ino was frustrated for not finding an answer for her stupid questions that would not come out of her head. They just kept popping up, no matter how much she tried to keep them away.

"Shikamaru? Why do you think that man knew Sasuke's favourite tune? And who was he?"

He smiled slightly, as if he had expected these kind of questions. She felt dumb for being so predictable sometimes, like a little child. "I don't know actually. Maybe he's not gone after all and requested the song himself." He suggested with a sly smirk.

"What?" She was startled by his words. Sasuke couldn't have… Or could he? "You mean… you think he's alive?"

"Who knows? We just found his clothing, right?" He said, pulling her closer in the autumn wind. "If I know Sasuke right, I believe he's still out there somewhere. And maybe this time, making better choices."

"Do you think he'll come back?" She started to get a bit worried, but Shikamaru's smile soothed her.

"Nah, not likely. But who knows? He's unpredictable alright."

Somehow, Ino didn't feel worried anymore about this. Somehow, she felt better knowing he might be out there. She hugged Shikamaru, feeling his heat against her body warming her up in the coldness.

And he hugged her back, putting a smile on her lips. This sad story had probably gotten a final ending, and it was a happy one.

_The souls of these two people were at ease, they were satisfied. Their hearts may be shallow, but their souls remain profound like their love. And so shall it be. _

-X-

* * *

**So yes, that is it! I have loved writing this story, and what I've loved even more is the support I've recieved along the way! I can't tell you how _grateful _I am! Thank you!**

**Also, I wish to announce that there is another fic coming up. It's a work in-progress, so I can't reveal too much ;) **

**But I hope you'll read that too when I post it, and once again thank you! /L aka OwlPenguin **


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